North Korea has announced the successful test of a “powerful solid-fuel engine” that will allow it to launch ballistic missiles faster.

Thursday’s test, overseen by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, “provided a scientific and technological guarantee for the development of a new type of strategic weapon,” the state-run KCNA news agency said in an English-language statement.

Images from the tests, taken at the Sohe Satellite Launch Base in Tongchang-ri (northwest), show the North Korean leader watching the static fire of an engine, which emits a bright yellow flame.

Despite international sanctions, Pyongyang continues to strengthen its military arsenal, especially intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

All are currently liquid-fueled, and last year Kim Jong-un made solid-fuel engines a strategic priority for the evolution toward more advanced missiles.

According to analysts, liquid rockets are more difficult to use and require more time to prepare.

Slower, they are easier to spot and destroy the enemy.

In contrast, solid-propellant projectiles are “more mobile, faster to launch and camouflage, and to use in a conflict,” says Leif-Erik Easley, a professor at Ehwa University in Seoul.

According to him, the deployment of this new technology will make North Korea’s nuclear arsenal “more dangerous.”

This year, Kim Jong-un declared North Korea’s nuclear weapons “irreversible,” expressing his desire to possess the most powerful nuclear arsenal in the world.

Land- or sea-based solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles will also be part of this arsenal.

Pyongyang has conducted an unprecedented series of military tests this year, including the November launch of its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile to date.

Seoul and Washington have been warning for months about the possibility of a new nuclear test by North Korea. It would be the seventh in his history. (Source: Agerpres)