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North Korea has announced that leader Kim Jong Un supervised a test of a new rocket engine for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), a development aimed at building an arsenal capable of threatening the continental United States.
The official Korean Central News Agency reported Monday’s event as the ninth and final ground test of the solid-fuel engine.
Constructed with carbon fibre, it boasts 1,971 kilonewtons of thrust, surpassing past models. This follows Kim’s recent visit to the research institute, with the engine earmarked for future ICBMs like the Hwasong-20.
Pyongyang has flight-tested various ICBMs with a potential range to reach the US mainland, including solid-propellant types that are easier to move, conceal, and launch quickly than older liquid-fuel missiles.
Kim has also called for further advancements in long-range weapons, such as multi-warhead systems, to defeat missile defences.
All of North Korea’s ICBM tests have so far used steeper-than-normal trajectories to avoid neighbouring territories. Experts, however, suggest the nation may not yet have perfected the technology for warheads to survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric re-entry.
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North Korea in recent years has flight-tested a variety of ICBMs that demonstrated potential range to reach the US mainland (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon))
KCNA said Kim expressed satisfaction after Monday’s test, calling the “eye-opening” development of the new rocket engine a “significant change” in his effort to expand North Korea’s nuclear forces.
Kim has stepped up testing activities since the collapse of nuclear talks with the US in 2019 under President Donald Trump’s first term, demonstrating weapons of various ranges designed to strike US allies in Asia and the US mainland.
Analysts say Kim’s nuclear push is aimed at eventually pressuring Washington to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and to negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of strength.
Kim is also trying to bolster his leverage by strengthening his cooperation with traditional allies Russia and China, in an emerging partnership aimed at undercutting US influence.
Kim has sent thousands of troops and large quantities of military equipment to Russia to help fuel President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
He visited Beijing last week, sharing the spotlight with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin at a massive military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and China’s fight against Japanese aggression.
Experts say Kim’s rare foreign trip was likely intended to boost his leverage ahead of a potential resumption of talks with the United States.
In a separate report, KCNA said Xi sent a letter to Kim on North Korea’s founding anniversary, which fell on Tuesday, and called for strengthened “strategic communication” between the countries.