A new era in North Korea’s missile programme may be dawning, as analysts warn of an imminent test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads to the US mainland.
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Fresh from his appearance at China’s Victory Day parade in Beijing last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un personally oversaw the trial of a lighter, more robust solid-fuel ICBM engine, state media reported on Tuesday, touting the achievement as a “strategic” breakthrough.
Reportedly built with advanced carbon-fibre composites, the high-thrust engine “heralds a significant change in expanding and strengthening the nuclear strategic forces” of North Korea, Kim declared, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
He described the test as “a success assuming the most strategic nature in the recent modernisation of defence technology”.
The development marks a potential watershed in North Korea’s missile programme. Pyongyang’s references to a ninth and “final” test point to the imminent debut of a new ICBM – possibly the Hwasong-20 – according to Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
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