North Korea conducts tests on new engines for ballistic missiles

The technology has shown to be reliable in early experiments, according to Pyongyang’s official news agency.

According to the state-run KCNA news agency, North Korea has successfully tested recently developed solid-fuel engines for its intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs).

Recent years have seen Pyongyang step up its missile and nuclear programmes, arguing that these weapons are necessary to thwart future US and regional ally invasion.

With a maximum range of 5,500 kilometres (3,418 miles), North Korean IRBMs may be able to reach Guam, a US island in the Pacific Ocean. Solid-fuel missiles normally require less time to prepare for launch than liquid-fuel missiles, giving opponents less opportunity to identify them.

North Korea’s missile industry “has developed new-type high-thrust solid-fuel engines for intermediate-range ballistic missiles,” according to a KCNA report on Wednesday. The development is said to have “important strategic significance.”

The agency also stated that on November 11 and November 14, respectively, the first- and second-stage engines had undergone their first ground testing. According to reports, the trials verified the new equipment’s dependability, opening the door for the creation of a “new-type IRBM system.”

North Korea’s missile industry is reportedly in charge of developing the Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile, which has a higher range than current IRBMs, as well as enhancing the country’s current IRBMs, according to KCNA.

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According to the news agency, the latest testing of solid-fuel engines marked a significant advancement in “improving the strategic offensive capabilities of the DPRK’s armed forces in light of the grave and unstable security environment facing the country.”

Pyongyang will create “more offensive and overwhelming response capabilities” and conduct “visible strategic deterrent military actions,” according to a military spokeswoman reported by KCNA on Thursday.

Shortly after the US and South Korea launched their own “deterrence strategy” targeted at the DPRK, the warning was issued.

North Korea has been significantly advancing its nuclear and missile capabilities in recent years, in defiance of many resolutions from the UN Security Council and international sanctions imposed on it.

Following a nuclear strike exercise, Pyongyang launched multiple cruise missiles in September.

While the North maintains that these tests are a justifiable reaction to the more regular and extensive joint drills that Washington and Seoul hold on the Korean Peninsula, the US, South Korea, and Japan have consistently denounced these tests as provocative.