Kim Jong Un observed a test of a high-thrust, solid-fuel engine for weapons, hailing it as a development to boost North Korea’s strategic military capability, state media reported.
The test likely indicates Kim’s plans to expand and modernise an arsenal of missiles capable of reaching the US mainland.
The report on Sunday from Korean Central News Agency came days after a speech at North Korea’s parliament in which Kim pledged to irreversibly cement his country’s status as a nuclear power.
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He accused the US of global “state terrorism and aggression,” apparently referencing the war in the Middle East.
Kim observed the ground jet test of the newly upgraded engine using a composite carbon fibre material, KCNA reported.
The engine’s maximum thrust is 2,500 kilotons, up from around 1,971 kilotons reported in a similar solid fuel engine test in September, according to the agency.
A push to increase engine power is likely connected with efforts to place multiple warheads on a single missile to increase chances of defeating US defences, observers say.
KCNA did not report exactly where or when the test took place.
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The test is part of the nation’s five-year military escalation programme.
Objectives include upgrading “strategic strike means,” KCNA reported.
The reference is understood to mean nuclear-capable, intercontinental ballistic missiles targeting the continental US.
Kim said the engine test had “great significance in putting the country’s strategic military muscle on the highest level,” KCNA reported.
In recent years, North Korea has test-fired a variety of ICBMs demonstrating the potential range to strike the US mainland, including missiles with solid propellants that make detection ahead of liftoff more difficult.
The country’s older liquid-fuel missiles must be fuelled before liftoffs and are not long-lasting.
Some foreign experts say North Korea still faces technological hurdles before it has a functioning ICBM, such as ensuring warheads survive atmospheric reentry.
But others dispute that assessment given the number of years the nation has spent on its nuclear and missile programmes.
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North Korea has made a big push to expand its nuclear arsenal since Kim’s high-stakes diplomacy with Donald Trump collapsed in 2019.
In a ruling Workers’ Party congress in February, Kim left open the door for discussions with the US president but urged Washington to drop demands for the North’s nuclear disarmament as a precondition for talks.
