North Korea ground test of new rocket engine 'a success': KCNA

[SEOUL] North Korea has carried out a successful ground test for a new high-power rocket engine, state media said on Tuesday, in a development that could advance Pyongyang's weapons programme.

After supervising the test at the country's Sohae satellite-launching site, leader Kim Jong Un called for more rocket launches to turn the country into a "possessor of geostationary satellites in a couple of years to come," KCNA news agency reported.

The North has already carried out a series of long-range missile tests presented as satellite launches.

The engine would give the country "sufficient carrier capability for launching various kinds of satellites, including Earth observation satellite at a world level", the news agency said.

AFP