International News

SEOUL, (APP/AFP) – North Korea has successfully
tested a new, high-powered rocket engine, state media said Tuesday, a move experts say will bolster its already burgeoning weapons programme.
The ground test comes after more than 20 missile launches and two nuclear explosions this year, and adds to the sense that the isolated state is quickening the development of its arsenal, despite fierce global opposition.
State-run news agency KCNA said the engine would give the country
“sufficient carrier capability for launching various kinds of satellites”.
Rocket engines are easily re-purposed for use in missiles, and outside observers say that Pyongyang’s space programme is a fig leaf for weapons tests.
After supervising the test at the country’s Sohae satellite-launching site, leader Kim Jong-Un called on officials, scientists and technicians “to round off the preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible”, KCNA news agency reported.