Kim Jong Un led artillery firing drill near Seoul

(Patria) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un led an artillery firing drill of the Korean People's Army, state media KCNA reported on Friday, Reuters reports.

The drill, conducted on Thursday, involved units near the border and within firing range of the "enemy capital," KCNA said, referring to the South Korean capital of nearly ten million people, and added that it had "fulfilled important military missions for war deterrence".

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the North Korean military tested multiple rocket launchers and self-propelled artillery systems towards the Yellow Sea.

The JCS said it is monitoring North Korea's military activities as drills conducted by the South Korean and US militaries are underway. The drills, known as "Freedom Shield," began on Monday with twice the number of troops compared to last year.

North Korea has made "multiple attempts" to jam GPS signals near the South Korean border since Tuesday, the JCS said in a separate statement, adding that no damage has been caused, but warning of consequences.

In Washington, a State Department spokesperson said the joint South Korean and US drills are "routine and defensive in nature" and called on North Korea to "refrain from further provocative, destabilizing actions and return to diplomacy".

KCNA said Thursday's drill aimed to increase combat readiness and war capability. Kim urged the military to continue preparations so that artillery units could "take the initiative with relentless and swift strikes at the moment of their entry into actual war".

"He emphasized the need for all artillerymen of the entire army to be trained into experts in artillery combat... and set important tasks for rounding off artillery war preparations," KCNA reported, citing the country's leader.

South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik visited the Capital Defense Command on Thursday and ordered a firm response if North Korea makes provocations targeting the capital.

Earlier this week, North Korean state media said Kim inspected field training of soldiers at a large military operational base in the western part of the country.