North Korea’s Test of Rocket Engine Shows ‘Meaningful Progress,’ South Says<br />Since Mr. Kim took power in 2011, North Korea has launched 46 ballistic missiles, including 24 last year, violating resolutions by the United Nations Security Council<br />that ban the country from developing or testing such weapons, according to South Korean officials.<br />The test of the rocket engine took place at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground in Tongchang-ri, in northwestern North Korea, where<br />the country fired a carrier rocket in February of last year to place its Kwangmyongsong, or Shining Star, satellite into orbit.<br />By CHOE SANG-HUNMARCH 20, 2017<br />SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea’s latest test of a rocket engine showed<br />that the country was making "meaningful progress" in trying to build more powerful rockets and missiles, South Korean officials said on Monday.<br />After that launch, South Korean defense officials said<br />that the Unha rocket used in the launch, if successfully reconfigured as a missile, could fly more than 7,400 miles with a warhead of 1,100 to 1,300 pounds — far enough to reach most of the United States.<br />Mr. Kim has called for his country to develop and launch "a variety of more working satellites" using "carrier rockets of bigger capacity." The country has also renovated<br />and expanded the gantry tower and other facilities at the launch site to accommodate more powerful rockets.<br />He declined to say whether the engine was for a rocket used to place a satellite into orbit or for an intercontinental<br />ballistic missile, or ICBM, which the North has been threatening to test-flight any time.
