Kim oversees delivery of launchers

SEOUL:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the delivery of 250 new tactical ballistic missile launchers to frontier troops, state media KCNA reported on Monday, which Seoul said he would use to threaten South Korea.

The launchers have been described by state media as a modern tactical attack weapon personally designed by Kim and ready to be transferred to Korean People's Army units on the frontier with the South.

North Korea said it test-fired a new tactical ballistic missile last month. "We believe (the missile launchers) are intended to be used in various ways, such to attack or threaten South Korea... Deploying near the border would mean that the range is not long," Lee Sung-joon, spokesperson for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a media briefing.

In a speech, Kim blamed the United States for creating a "nuclear-based military block" that forced his country to further strengthen military capabilities. North Korea has long condemned joint drills between the United States and South Korea as a rehearsal for invasion.