DPRK's Kim guides new rocket engine test, calls for satellite launch
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong Un supervised a ground test of a new rocket engine to launch satellites, the DPRK's state media reported on September 20, the latest in a rapid succession of missile-related tests this year by the state.
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Kim asked scientists and engineers to make "preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible on the basis of the successful test," the official KCNA news agency said, indicating the DPRK may soon launch another long-range rocket.
The test was conducted amid global condemnation of the DPRK's fifth nuclear test earlier this month and a call by the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea (RoK) this week for greater pressure on Pyongyang over its disregard for United Nations resolutions banning missile and nuclear programs.
The DPRK has been testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate this year under Kim's direction, including the launch of a satellite in February that was widely seen as a test of long-range ballistic missile technology.
The DPRK's Rodong Sinmun newspaper carried photographs of Kim on a podium overlooking the vertical test stand that housed a rocket engine which blasted a column of flame.
A spokesman for the RoK's military, Jeon Ha-gyu, said it was likely to have been a test for a new engine that can be used for a long-range missile.
