Pyongyang: Even as the crisis in West Asia continues to rage, North Korea reportedly tested an engine for a missile capable of targeting the US mainland.
The country’s premier Kim Jong Un is said to have observed the test of the high-thrust, solid-fuel engine for weapons. It is apparently part of a new five-year defence development plan aimed at upgrading the country’s strategic strike capabilities, as reported by timesnow.in.
The upgraded engine uses a composite carbon fibre material and has a maximum thrust of 2,500 kilotons, according to Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). This is up from about 1,971 kilotons reported in a similar solid fuel engine test in September.
This highlights Kim’s intention of enlarging and modernising an arsenal of missiles capable of reaching the United States mainland, as repo
rted by Associated Press. The North Korean leader hailed the test as a development to boost the country’s strategic military capability, state media reported on Sunday.
The latest engine test had “great significance in putting the country’s strategic military muscle on the highest level,” KCNA reported Kim as saying. He is also said to have inspected special operations forces training and a new main battle tank.
Experts believe that this push to increase the engine power is likely associated with efforts to place multiple warheads on a single missile to increase chances of defeating US defences, AP reported.
A few days ago, Kim delivered a speech at North Korea’s Parliament pledging to irreversibly cement his country’s status as a nuclear power. He accused the US of global “state terrorism and aggression,” in an apparent reference to the war in the Middle East.
Ever since Kim’s high-stakes diplomacy with US president Donald Trump collapsed in 2019, North Korea has pushed hard to expand its nuclear arsenal. In a ruling Workers’ Party congress in February, Kim left open the door for dialogue with Trump but urged Washington to drop demands for the North’s nuclear disarmament as a precondition for talks.