N. KOREA CONDUCTS FIRE DRILL

[Anchor Lead]

The projectiles that North Korea fired off its east coast on Monday are deemed to be from a super-large multiple rocket launcher, the same weapon the regime tested four times last year. This time the launch was part of a North Korean military drill. Pyongyang's state media reported that Kim Jong-un, who oversaw the exercise, was very satisfied with the result.

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This is North Korea's artillery training that took place in Wonsan, Gangwon-do Province on Monday. The North released these photographs one day later and reported that the rockets were fired at the order of Chairman Kim Jong-un. Dozens of projectiles were launched. Most of them were 240-millimeter rockets. Two of them were fired from a mobile launcher equipped with four launch tubes. It looks exactly like the 600-millimeter super-large multiple rockets tested four times last year. Unlike ordinary rockets, the North's super-large rockets are equipped with a precision guidance system. The regime said its final testing was completed last September. South Korea's military regards the rocket as a ballistic missile as it is difficult to differentiate the two.

[Soundbite] KIM JUN-RAK(JCS SPOKESPERSON) : "We are analyzing North Korea's projectiles believed to be short-range ballistic missiles."

The weapon's strength lies in enabling surprise attacks by launching multiple rockets from mobile launch pads. North Korea has also dramatically shortened the firing interval. In last August's first test launch, the interval of continuous firing was 17 minutes, but this time it took 20 seconds. That means it's practically ready for field deployment. This speculation is supported by the fact that the regime had used the term "test firing" for the past four launches, but now used "artillery shell firing drill." The drill was conducted not by the researchers of defense sciences in charge of weapons development, but the long-range artillery unit. North Korea also released images of the rockets striking a rocky island 240 kilometers away. Pyongyang's state media reported that Chairman Kim Jong-un, who oversaw the drill, was greatly satisfied with the result. A day after the regime's launches, the U.S. Air Force flew a reconnaissance plane over the Korean Peninsula to monitor the situation in the North.