South Korea's defense ministry said on Monday that the DPRK's latest high-thrust rocket engine test was a "meaningful" advance in its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) development program, reported Yonhap News Agency.
Seoul issued this response one day after the Korean Central News Agency reported that Pyongyang had tested a new high-thrust engine at its rocket launch station.
Kim Jong Un, top leader of the DPRK,
watches the ground jet test of the high-thrust engine. /CFP Photo
"Through this test, it is found that engine function has made meaningful progress,” said Lee Jin-woo, deputy spokesman for the South Korean defense ministry. But further analysis is needed to know the exact thrust and the engine's possible uses, added Lee.
Pyongyang’s rocket-engine test coincides with the arrival of the controversial American Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, in South Korea, which is set to be deployed to counter the threat from the DPRK, despite opposition from China and Russia, as well as in South Korea.
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