Kim Jong Un guides a live shell firing exercise of the Unit 171 of the Korean People's Army (KPA), July 16, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]

PYONGYANG - Top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un guided a live shell firing exercise of the Unit 171 of the Korean People's Army (KPA), DPRK's official news agency KCNA reported Tuesday.

Kim Jong-un guides tactical rocket firing drill again

Kim was briefed the exercise plan and the distribution of firepower strikes atop an observation post before he gave an order to open fire, said the KCNA in a dispatch, detailing the "shells dropped into the sea like hail," in describing the firing process.

Kim expressed great satisfaction with the drill, commending all of the artillerymen for being crack gunners. He said after watching the firing drill, he was once again assured that all service personnel of the KPA are on high alert and all they are waiting for is only an order from the supreme commander.

Hostile forces are getting more undisguised in their moves to isolate and stifle the DPRK, but the Korean people will keep building the DPRK into a thriving country as the army is firmly defending the country, the report quoted Kim as saying.

Kim also pointed out more combat preparations need to be made by the military units on the front of the country.

The DPRK on Monday launched artillery shells from the region some hundreds of meters north of the Demilitarized Zone in Goseong, according to media reports from the Republic of Korea.

The shells, which were fired from 11:53 am local time toward its northeastern waters, landed in waters some 1-8 kilometers north of the Northern Limit Line, the disputed sea boundary in the East Sea.

It was the DPRK's 15th launch of missiles or artillery shells this year and the 5th firing exercise in less than three weeks.

The launches came ahead of a joint maritime exercise that will involve US aircraft carrier USS George Washington and ROK battleships in southern and southwestern waters off the Korean Peninsula from July 16-21.