The Latest: NKorea says rocket test was for land combat North Korea: Wednesday launches were test firings of a new multiple rocket launcher system

SEOUL, South Korea -- The Latest on projectile launch in North Korea (all times local):

6:53 a.m.

North Korea says leader Kim Jong Un supervised test firings of a new multiple rocket launcher system he said would soon serve a crucial role in his military's land combat operations.

The report by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Thursday disputed the assessment by South Korea's military, which had concluded Wednesday's launches as two short-range ballistic missiles.

The launches were North Korea's second weapons test in less than a week and were seen as a move to keep up pressure on Washington and Seoul over the stalemate in nuclear negotiations. Pyongyang has also expressed anger over planned U.S.-South Korea military drills.

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7:44 a.m. Wednesday

South Korea says North Korea has fired several unidentified projectiles off its east coast.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff says the launches were done Wednesday from the North's northeastern area.

It wasn't immediately known exactly what North Korea fired.

The launches came after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea last Thursday in an apparent effort to ramp up pressure on the United States ahead of a possible resumption of nuclear diplomacy between North Korea and the U.S.