North Korea announced that it has developed new controllable shells for a multiple rocket launcher and its ballistic control system.

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) said on Monday that the Academy of Defence Science test-fired the 240 millimeter-caliber shells and verified their accuracy the previous day.

The KCNA said the latest technical advances will lead to a reevaluation of the multiple rocket launcher's strategic value and utility and furthermore expand its role in the battlefield.

South Korea's military stated it detected Sunday's test-firing of the 240 millimeter-caliber shells, with a military official saying the shells fired from near Nampo, South Pyongan Province, flew dozens of kilometers before falling into the Yellow Sea.

While the North is presumed to have extended the range of the shells and improved their accuracy with its latest claimed success, such development is viewed as a political response to aggravated inter-Korean tensions, as well as an economic attempt to expand arms trade with Russia.