North Korea says it has tested new engines to speed up missile launches

North Korea said today it has successfully tested new solid-fuel engines that could enable faster launches of intermediate-range ballistic missiles.

North Korea’s official news agency KCNA said the country’s military scientists tested engines for the first two stages of rockets on Saturday and Tuesday, without indicating when the new system could be completed.

Rockets with integrated solid-fuel engines can be primed for faster launch and are easier to move and conceal, theoretically making detection and anticipation more difficult.

The tests were A “an essential process to further enhance the strategic offensive capabilities of the armed forces, in light of the severe and unstable security environment the country faces and the future military situation in the region”said KCN.

North Korea’s claims that the engine tests were successful suggest the country will test new missiles in the coming weeks, Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at the Sejong Institute in Korea, told the Associated Press.

Pyongyang’s current medium-range missiles are powered by liquid-fuel engines, which must be fueled before launch and cannot remain full for long periods.

North Korea’s announcement comes as growing military cooperation between Pyongyang and Russia is a concern for Ukraine and its allies, especially after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with the Russian president in September Vladimir Putin.

KCNA confirmed that Russian Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov is visiting North Korea and said the two countries are in talks on trade, scientific and technological cooperation, without providing further details.

According to South Korea, the North provided Russia with more than a million artillery rounds for the war in Ukraine, and in return received technical advice for its satellites.

Last week, the Group of the World’s Seven Most Industrialized Countries (G7) condemned the country’s arms transfers to Russia and called on both sides to “immediately cease all such activities.”

On Monday, the US and South Korea defense chiefs revised a strategic military deterrent deal to counter Pyongyang for the first time in a decade, at a time when the two allies are stepping up defense cooperation in response to the North’s growing nuclear threats.