North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected a firing test by the military's artillery units as his first "field guidance" of the new year, Pyongyang's state media said Tuesday.

Kim observed the artillery contest by combined units under the Korean People's Army (KPA), according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). As usual, it did not reveal the date of his public activity.

The KCNA said that "all the contestants hit every target with perfect marksmanship they acquired in routine drills."

Kim stressed the need to raise the target-hit rate, urging his troops to beef up their military capability, the report said.

Delivering his New Year's message, the North's leader described

2016 as a "significant" year that will greet the Workers' Party of Korea's first congress in more than three decades. Kim is expected to unveil new lines of policies and conduct a major reshuffle at the party event due in May.

He also called on the North to produce various military means of striking, although he refrained from commenting on North Korea's nuclear weapons program. (Yonhap)