North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has overseen the test-firing of an upgraded multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS) amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula as South Korea and the United States hold joint war games in the strategic region.

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) announced on Wednesday that Kim had attended the test of a 240mm rocket launcher equipped with a new “guiding system.”

“The MRLS, technically updated in its maneuverability and concentrated firing capability, was proved to be advantageous in all indices, including newly applied guiding system, controllability and destructive power,” KCNA said.

Kim “set forth an important policy to be pursued in producing new artillery pieces and equipping army units with them,” the news agency added, without elaborating.

Pyongyang said in February that it had developed a new control system for a multiple rocket launcher that would lead to a “qualitative change” in its defense capabilities.

In May, it said the updated launcher would be “deployed to units of the Korean People’s Army as replacement equipment from 2024 to 2026.”

The Wednesday announcement was made just two days after the North unveiled a “suicide drone” designed to be deliberately crashed into enemy targets, effectively acting as guided missiles.

The test-firing came as South Korea and the United States have been carrying out their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military drills with new exercises aimed at containing Pyongyang. The Ulchi Freedom Shield drills, which continue for 11 days through August 29, include both computer-simulated war games and more than 40 kinds of field exercises, including live-fire drills.

Seoul and Washington claimed that this year’s program is focused on enhancing their readiness against “various North Korean threats,” including missiles, GPS jamming and cyberattacks.

In recent months, the United States has increased its regional deployment of long-range bombers, submarines and aircraft carrier strike groups to train with South Korean and Japanese forces.

The drills have been carried out to trigger a belligerent response from North Korea to justify the presence of extra-regional forces amid Pyongyang’s verbal threats of nuclear conflicts against Washington and Seoul.

The North Korean leader has repeatedly warned Washington’s regional allies against expanding military ties with the US which could cause war to “break out at any time.”

Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo conducted their first-ever joint drills after US President Joe Biden and his Japanese and South Korean counterparts signed a trilateral security pact at Camp David on August 18, 2023.

China, Russia, and North Korea all voiced concern about the US attempts to militarize the Asia-Pacific through an expanding web of security agreements.