North Korea carries out ‘very important test’

SEOUL — North Korea said today it carried out a “very important test” at its long-range rocket launch site that U.S. and South Korean officials said the North had partially dismantled as part of denuclearization steps.

The announcement came amid dimming prospects for a resumption of nuclear negotiations between North Korea and the United States, with the North pressing to wrest major U.S. concessions by the year’s end.

Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency said the test was conducted at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground on Saturday.

It didn’t say what the test included. According to recent media reports, a new satellite image indicated North Korea might be preparing to resume testing engines used to power satellite launchers.

The test results will have “an important effect on changing the strategic position of [North Korea] once again in the near future,” the news agency said.

The Sohae launching centre in Tongchang-ri is where the North has carried out satellite launches in recent years, resulting in worldwide condemnation and UN sanctions over claims that they were disguised tests of banned missile technology.

North Korea has said its satellite launches are part of its peaceful space development program. But many outside experts say ballistic missiles and rockets used in satellite launches share similar bodies, engines and other technology.

After North Korea entered nuclear talks with the U.S. last year, Washington and Seoul said North Korea had dismantled parts of its Tongchang-ri facility.

But South Korea’s spy agency and some U.S. experts said in March that North Korea was restoring the facility, the assessments that rose doubts over whether North Korea is committed to denuclerization.