North Korea says it successfully tests long-range rocket engine

A man passes by a TV screen showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, March 24, 2016. North Korea said Thursday that it had successfully conducted a solid-fuel rocket engine test, which if confirmed would be a major step forward in boosting its missile attack capability against South Korea and the United States. The Korean letters on the screen read: “Kim Jong Un watches a solid-fueled rocket engine test.” AP FILE PHOTO

SEOUL, South Korea  — North Korea said Saturday it has successfully tested the engine of a new intercontinental ballistic rocket that will give it the ability to stage nuclear strikes on the United States.

The test, if true, would be a big step forward for the North’s nuclear weapons program, which saw its fourth atomic test earlier this year. But the North may still need a good deal of work before it can strike the U.S. mainland with nuclear missiles. South Korean officials say North Korea doesn’t yet have a reliable intercontinental ballistic missile, let alone the ability to arm it with a nuclear warhead.

The test, announced by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, is only the latest in a string of what Washington and its allies consider North Korean provocations, including the recent firing of a medium-range ballistic missile that violated U.N. Security Council resolutions that prohibit any ballistic activities by North Korea. It was the North’s first medium-range missile launch since early 2014.

The North has also threatened pre-emptive nuclear strikes against Washington and Seoul and fired short-range missiles and artillery into the sea in an apparent response to ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills and tough U.N. sanctions imposed over a nuclear test and long-range rocket launch earlier this year.

Some analysts think leader Kim Jong Un’s belligerent stance is linked to a major ruling party congress next month meant to further cement his grip on power. The outside pressure and anger caused by bombastic threats and repeated nuclear-related tests, the argument goes, is meant to rally the North Korean people around Kim as he stands up to powerful enemies trying to crush the North. TVJ