N. Korea tests rocket engine

US officials: It could be used to develop intercontinental ballistic missile

WASHINGTON: North Korea has carried out another test of a rocket engine that US officials believe could be part of its programme to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile, officials said.

The latest test followed one earlier this month, and was another sign of Pyongyang’s advancing weapons programme. It comes amid mounting US concerns about additional missile and nuclear tests, potentially in the near future.

Several US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the test took place on Friday night and the engine could possibly be used in an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

Earlier this month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said his country had conducted a test of a new high-thrust engine at its Tongchang-ri rocket launch station, saying that it was “a new birth” of its rocket industry.

At the time, North Korea’s official media said the engine would help it achieve world-class satellite launch capability, indicating that the test was of a new type of rocket engine for long-range missiles.

Kim had said that North Korea was close to an ICBM test-launch.

North Korea has been testing rocket engines and heat-shields for an ICBM while developing the technology to guide a missile after re-entry into the atmos- phere following a liftoff, experts have said.

Once fully developed, a North Korean ICBM could threaten the continental United States, which is around 9,000km from the North. ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500km, but some are designed to travel 10,000km or farther.

The reclusive state had conducted five nuclear tests and a series of missile launches in defiance of UN resolutions. — Reuters