SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has test-fired a newly developed sniper rifle, state media said on Saturday, as he inspected special forces whose training he said bolstered `actual war capability for guaranteeing victory` Such units are among the thousands of troops that South Korea`s spy agency says Pyongyang has deployed to Russia to support Moscow`s war against Ukraine.

During the visit to a special operations unit on Friday, Kim said the `actual war capability for guaranteeing victory in the war field is bolstered up through intensive training,` the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

He added that their training is `the most vivid expression of patriotism and loyalty to the country,` according to the agency. Images released by state mediashowed Kim peering through the scope of a sniper rifle that KCNA said was going to be `newly supplied to special operation units`.

Other images showed him pointing to the bullseye of a target, crouching alongside heavily camouflaged soldiers, and smiling and waving to troops.

Kim supervised `automatic rifle firing drills and sniper rifle firing drills` and, after personally test-firing the weapon, expressed `great satisfaction over the performance and power of the sniper rifle developed in our own way`, KCNA said.

Kim`s visit to the special forces came on the same day that South Korea`s Constitutional Court upheld president Yoon Suk Yeol`s impeachment over his disastrous martial law declaration, booting him from office and triggering fresh elections.-AFP