North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test-firing of a "super-large multiple rocket launcher" on Tuesday, the country's state-run media reported Wednesday.

The Korean Central News Agency report came a day after South Korea said projectiles were fired at 6:53 a.m. and 7:12 a.m. on Tuesday, from South Pyongan Province in the central part of North Korea.

[Photo courtesy of Korea Media]

"The recent test-fire was in full line with its purpose, and served as a chance to clearly decide the next stage towards completing the weapons system," the news agency said.

Tuesday's projectiles flew a maximum of some 330 kilometers in distance, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

North Korea has now launched weapons on eight occasions since July 25, as negotiations with the United States have stalled over the scope of the reclusive country's denuclearization, and the amount of sanctions relief to be granted in return.

At their June 30 meeting in the truce village of Panmunjeom, Kim agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump that Washington and Pyongyang would resume talks within weeks, but they have yet to take place.

[KNS/Kyodo]

Hours before the latest firing of projectiles, however, a senior North Korean diplomat suddenly extended an olive branch, saying Pyongyang is ready to talk with the United States later this month.

"We have a willingness to sit with the U.S. for comprehensive discussion of the issues we have so far taken up, at a time and place to be agreed, late in September," First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said in a statement carried by official media.

The United States and North Korea technically remain in a state of war, as the 1950-1953 Korean War ended only in a cease-fire. The two nations have no diplomatic relations.

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N. Korea fires projectiles eastward from inland area: S. Korea