TOKYO, Dec 16 (KUNA) -- North Korea said Friday it has successfully test-fired a "high-thrust solid-fuel motor" as part of the development of a new strategic weapon a day earlier, state media reported.
The North's Academy of Defense Science succeeded in the "static firing test of high-thrust solid-fuel motor with a thrust of 140 ton-force, the first of its kind in the country, at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground" on Thursday morning, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
"This important test has provided a sure sci-tech guarantee for the development of another new-type strategic weapon system," the report said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un guided the test on the spot, and highly praised the academy for "having successfully solved another important problem in carrying out the five priority tasks facing the strategic weapon field under the five-year plan," set forth last year, the KCNA said. Kim also encouraged the scientists and technicians, expressing the expectation that another new-type strategic weapon would be made in the shortest span of time.
South Korean observers said the North could have tested the high-thrust engine to advance technologies for developing a new solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported.
Solid-fueled ICBMs are known to be simpler and faster to launch than the liquid-based ones that the North has tested previously, making the US and South Korean militaries harder to detect them. Pyongyang has been seeking to develop solid-propellant engines to gain greater mobility for its missiles. (end) mk.rk