NK deploys upgraded long-range rocket launchers: source

North Korea has developed and deployed improved long-range multiple rocket launchers in time to celebrate the centennial of its founder's birth this spring, a source here said Monday. According to the source, North Korea recently completed upgrading the previous model of its 240-millimeter rocket launchers, and named them 'Juche 100 Guns,' after the North's primary ideology of self-reliance. The source said the new launchers have more than doubled the range of the earlier version, which could fire up to 60 kilometers, and that they have been deployed to some artillery units. North Korea is known to have been operating two types of 240-mm rocket launchers: the 12-round M-1985 and the 22-round M-1991. The Juche 100 is based on the M-1991, according to the source. North Korea reportedly imported 300-mm ammunitions from Russia and test-fired them for years off the west coast. Intelligence officials here believe the North is expected to unveil the Juche 100 to the public during a massive military parade on April 15 this year, the 100th birthday of the North's founder Kim Il-sung. Experts say South Korea can counter with its own precision-guided land missile capable of hitting Pyongyang. The Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), the surface-to-surface missiles, can be fired from multiple rocket launchers with an effective range of 165 kilometers. Equipped with a global positioning system and inertial guidance technology, these missiles were positioned near the Demilitarized Zone last year. (Yonhap)