{"id":690030,"date":"2026-03-29T11:24:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T11:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/690030\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T11:24:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T11:24:13","slug":"north-korea-conducts-engine-test-for-long-range-missile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/690030\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korea conducts engine test for long-range missile"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) \u2014 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed a test of an upgraded solid-fuel engine<\/a> for weapons capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, and called it a significant development boosting his country\u2019s strategic military arsenal, state media reported Sunday.<\/p>\n

While the test was in line with Kim\u2019s stated goal of acquiring more agile, hard-to-detect missiles targeting the U.S. and its allies, some experts speculate North Korea\u2019s claim may be an exaggeration. Missiles with built-in solid propellants are easier to move and conceal their launches than liquid-fuel weapons, which in general must be fueled before liftoffs and cannot last long.<\/p>\n

The official Korean Central News Agency reported Kim watched the ground jet test of the engine using a composite carbon fiber material. It said the engine\u2019s maximum thrust is 2,500 kilonewtons, up from about 1,970 kilonewtons reported in a similar solid-fuel engine test in September<\/a>.<\/p>\n

KCNA reported the test was conducted as part of the country\u2019s five-year arms build-up meant to upgrade \u201cstrategic strike means,\u201d a term referring to nuclear-capable ballistic missiles and other weapons. Kim said the latest engine test had \u201cgreat significance in putting the country\u2019s strategic military muscle on the highest level,\u201d according to KCNA. The agency did not say when or where the test occurred.<\/p>\n

North Korea\u2019s report on the latest test could be \u201cbluffing\u201d as it didn\u2019t disclose some key information like the engine\u2019s total combustion time, said Lee Choon Geun, an honorary research fellow at South Korea\u2019s Science and Technology Policy Institute.<\/p>\n

When North Korea reported about the previous engine test in September, it described it as the ninth and final ground test of a solid-fuel engine that it earlier said would be used for intercontinental ballistic missiles. Observers predicted at the time North Korea would soon test-launch an ICBM loaded with that engine, but it hasn\u2019t done so yet.<\/p>\n

North Korea\u2019s solid-fuel engine program may be facing some delays or the country might have determined to develop a better engine, possibly with Russian assistance, Lee said. Cooperation between the countries has deepened in recent years<\/a>, with the North sending troops and conventional weapons to support Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine<\/a>. <\/p>\n

In recent years, North Korea has test-fired a variety of ICBMs demonstrating the potential range to reach the U.S. mainland, including solid-fuel ones.<\/a> But some of North Korea\u2019s past claims about major weapons tests drew outside skepticism<\/a>. In 2024, North Korea claimed to have successfully test-launched a multiwarhead missile<\/a>, but South Korea quickly dismissed it as deception to cover up a failed launch.<\/p>\n

Some foreign experts say North Korea still faces technological hurdles before it has a functioning ICBM, such as ensuring its warheads survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric reentry. But others dispute that assessment given the number of years the country has spent on its nuclear and missile programs. <\/p>\n

Possession of more powerful and efficient solid-fuel engines would allow North Korea to build smaller ICBMs that can be launched from submarines or land-based mobile launch trucks, Lee said. Other observers say a push to increase the engine power is likely associated with efforts to place multiple warheads on a single missile to increase chances of defeating U.S. defenses.<\/p>\n

North Korea has pushed hard to expand its nuclear arsenal since Kim\u2019s high-stakes diplomacy<\/a> with U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. In a ruling Workers\u2019 Party congress in February, Kim left open the door for dialogue with Trump but urged Washington to drop demands for the North\u2019s nuclear disarmament as a precondition for talks. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEOUL, South Korea (AP) \u2014 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed a test of an upgraded solid-fuel…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":690031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[3881,13214,7838,69,57,24529,289191,8132,50,24240,3659,67,370,132,68,161370,107],"class_list":["post-690030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","category-us","tag-ap-top-news","tag-asia-pacific","tag-diplomacy","tag-donald-trump","tag-general-news","tag-kim-jong-un","tag-lee-choon-geun","tag-military-and-defense","tag-news","tag-north-korea","tag-north-korea-government","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-government","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-weapons-testing","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116312217174921352","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=690030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/690031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=690030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=690030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=690030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}