NKorea rocket test shows ‘meaningful progress’
SEOUL: North Korea’s latest rocket engine test showed “meaningful progress” in its missile capabilities, Seoul said Monday, as the nuclear-armed state steps up its controversial weapons development programs.
The North’s leader Kim Jong-Un have made some meaningful progoversaw the “successful” test of the ress in engine functions,” Seoul’s powerful new rocket engine, state defense ministry deputy spokesmedia said, in a move apparently man Lee Jin-Woo told reporters. timed to coincide with a trip to Asia “But we need more analysis on by US Secretary State Rex Tillerson. its exact propulsive power and ap
It was the latest in a series of plicable use,” he said. moves by Pyongyang, which have The North’s last ground test of recently included the firing of a high-powered rocket engine— four missiles to its east in what it which can be used in missiles— described as practice for an attack was in September last year, and on US army bases in Japan. also observed by Kim.
“The latest test is believed to The weekend’s experiment came as the top US diplomat wrapped up his trip to Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing, having declared Washington would drop the “failed” approach of “strategic patience” with Pyongyang.
In Seoul, Tillerson warned that a US military action against Pyongyang was possible—a sharp divergence from China’s insistence on a diplomatic approach to its neighbor, which it has long protected.
The North insists that it needs nuclear and missile weapons for self-defense against “hostile forces,” including the US and its ally South Korea.
tests since 2006— three under Kim Jong- Un — and launched a number of missiles as it seeks to develop a weapon capable of reaching the US mainland.
Expert opinions vary on how advanced the North’s missile capabilities are, but most agree in recent years.
A growing threat from the North has prompted Seoul and Washington to begin installing a powerful US missile defense system in the South—angering Beijing, which views it as a threat to China’s own missile capabilities.
The deployment of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense ( THAAD) has prompted angry protests in China and boycotts of South Korean businesses, and further strained ties between Beijing and Washington.