North Korea’s Kim oversees ICBM engine test
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North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (right) inspecting the ground combustion of a high-thrust solid fuel engine, at an undisclosed location in North Korea.
PHOTO: AFP
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SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a test of a solid-fuel engine designed for intercontinental ballistic missiles, state media reported on Sept 9, marking another key step in a weapons programme Western powers have failed to stop.
State media said it was the ninth and final test of the engine, indicating that a full test-fire of a new intercontinental ballistic missile could be conducted in coming months.
Mr Kim oversaw the “important test” the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Sept 9, with images showing the leader looking at the flame from the engine test with binoculars.
It was a “ground jet test of high-thrust solid-fuel engine using the composite carbon fibre material,” KCNA said, adding it was the “the last one in the development process”.
The news agency quoted Mr Kim as saying that the new rocket engine “heralds a significant change in expanding and strengthening the nuclear strategic forces” of North Korea.
The engine test came a week after the North unveiled its new Hwasong-20, billed as its next-generation ICBM.
The test “indicates the production of a solid-fuel engine to be used for the new ICBM,” Professor Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.
By describing it as the “last” stage of development, Pyongyang was pointing to “a probable test launch of its new ICBM soon,” Prof Yang said, adding that a launch within 2025 was highly plausible.
North Korea has become one of Russia’s main allies since it invaded Ukraine three-and-a-half years ago, sending thousands of troops
Analysts have speculated that the North is receiving Russian technical support for its banned weapons and satellite programmes in exchange, allowing for more rapid progress on its missile development projects.
With Russian assistance, North Korea’s missiles could be reassessed from “‘crude’ to ‘complete,’” Prof Yang added.
China trip
The test came days after Mr Kim returned to North Korea from a trip to Beijing to attend a military parade
North Korea has for years staged test flights of long-range missiles apparently able to reach the continental US.
Pyongyang has also rolled out solid-fuel variants that are easier to mobilise, conceal and launch rapidly compared with liquid-fuel missiles.
And with the nuclear-armed North seeking to use carbon-fibre material in its ICBMs, the weapons could gain greater range by becoming lighter, Mr Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP.
“By securing both light weight and thermal durability, it demonstrates the domestic development of essential materials for the extended range,” he said.
North Korea has made repeatedly stated in 2025 that it has no intention of giving up its nuclear weapons, and called South Korean President Lee Jae Myung a “hypocrite” over his remarks calling for a “path to denuclearisation”.
“The North would remain unchanged in our stand not to abandon the nuclear weapons, the prestige and honour of the state,” Pyongyang said in August. AFP
