SEOUL, May 8 (UPI) -- North Korea plans to deploy a new heavy artillery system along its border with South Korea this year, state media reported Friday, highlighting Pyongyang's continued focus on conventional firepower capable of threatening the Seoul metropolitan area.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a munitions factory Wednesday to review production of a "new-type 155 mm self-propelled gun-howitzer system," the state-run Korea Central News Agency reported.
KCNA said the weapons are being produced for deployment to three battalions assigned to long-range artillery units along the southern border this year. Kim said the system has a strike range of more than 60 kilometers, or 37 miles.
The South Korean capital of Seoul, with a population of over 10 million, lies roughly 30 miles from the border, while the surrounding Gyeonggi Province is densely populated and heavily industrialized.
"Such rapid extension of striking range and remarkable improvement of striking capability will provide a great change and advantage in the land operations of our army," Kim said during the factory visit, KCNA reported.
