The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday oversaw the first test-firing of a "new-type large-caliber multiple launch guided rocket system", state news agency KCNA said on Thursday.
The test verified the combat effectiveness of the overall system, and Kim predicted "it would be an inescapable distress to the forces becoming a fat target of the weapon", the report said.
The rocket system "will play the main role in ground military operations", KCNA reported.
The report comes a day after the South's military said the North fired at least two missiles from its east coast into the sea.
Wednesday's launches were from the Wonsan area on the DPRK's eastern coast, from which last week's missiles had been fired, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement.
The JCS said later the North had fired ballistic missiles that flew about 250 km (155 miles).
This picture taken on July 25, 2019 and released by KCNA on July 26 shows a new-type of tactical guided short-range missile being launched at an undisclosed location in the DPRK. /VCG Photo
The United Nations Security Council will meet behind closed doors on Thursday to discuss the DPRK's recent ballistic missiles tests, diplomats said. Britain, France, and Germany requested the discussion amid growing concern that Pyongyang is developing long-range weapons in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
UN Security Council resolutions ban ballistic missile launches by the DPRK.
After the latest launch, a Pentagon official said joint military exercises between the United States and the Republic of Korea will go ahead.
The senior U.S. official said there is "no adjustment or change in plans that we're aware of."
"We have to do two things: we have to give the diplomats appropriate space for their diplomacy and help create an environment that's conducive to the talks when they resume -- which we expect," the official said on condition of anonymity.
Washington stations nearly 30,000 troops in the South to defend it from its neighbor.
The annual exercises between the U.S. and the ROK have repeatedly raised the ire of the DPRK, which sees them as a rehearsal for an invasion of its territory.
(Cover: This picture taken on July 25, 2019 and released by KCNA on July 26 shows DPRK leader Kim Jong Un watching through binoculars as a new-type of tactical guided short-range missile is launched at an undisclosed location in the DPRK. /VCG Photo)
(With inputs from Reuters and AFP)