North Korea has successfully conducted a test to verify the characteristics of a «high-thrust solid fuel engine» in the development of another «new-type strategic weapon system.»
«A major institute of the Academy of Defense Science succeeded in the static firing test of a high-thrust solid-fuel engine with a thrust of 140 tons of force, the first of its kind in the country,» KCNA has detailed.
According to North Korean officials, this test would have provided a «sure guarantee of science and technology» for the development of another new type of strategic weapon system.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was at the forefront of the test and expressed his expectation that «another strategic weapon of a new type would be produced in the shortest possible time,» according to the agency.
Experts in South Korea consulted by the Yonhap agency have pointed out that Pyongyang could have tested the high-thrust engine to advance technologies capable of developing a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
During a recent congress of North Korea’s Workers’ Party, the government presented plans to advance its weapons, including the development of tactical nuclear weapons, glide-flying hypersonic warheads, nuclear-powered submarines and reconnaissance satellites, among others.
Pyongyang has conducted a myriad of ballistic missile launches this year amid growing concerns that it could conduct a nuclear test.
