N. Korea's Kim oversees test of new missile engine for ICBMs

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, oversees a test of a high-thrust solid-fuel missile engine using composite carbon fiber material conducted Monday, in this photo published by the Korean Central News Agency, Tuesday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has overseen a high-thrust solid-fuel missile engine test using composite carbon fiber material for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), saying it heralds "a significant change" in strengthening the country's nuclear strategic forces, state media reported Tuesday.

The Missile Administration, together with a chemical materials research center, conducted the ground jet test the previous day, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

The report came a week after Kim visited the research institute that developed the engine, where he unveiled the next-generation Hwasong-20 ICBM under development, saying it will use the new engine.

Kim said the engine's development "heralds a significant change in expanding and strengthening the nuclear strategic forces" of North Korea, also calling it a "success assuming the most strategic nature in the recent modernization of defense technology."

The engine test marks the ninth of its kind and "the last one" in the development process, the KCNA said, describing its maximum thrust as 1,971 kilonewtons.

North Korea last conducted an ICBM test on Oct. 31 last year with the solid-fuel Hwasong-19, calling it "an ICBM of ultimate version" at the time.

The Hwasong-20 represents the latest development in North Korea's ICBM arsenal. The completion of its new engine is expected to accelerate the missile's development.

North Korea has also ratified a decree to award state commendations to the president of the chemical materials academy and the director in charge of solid-fuel engine development under the Missile Administration, the KCNA noted.

The North Korean news agency did not specify the location of the chemical materials academy, but the South Korean government has identified it as being in the east coast city of Hamhung.

Kim's latest move appears aimed at emphasizing North Korea's ICBM arsenal, capable of striking anywhere in U.S. territory, after he stood shoulder to shoulder with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a military parade in Beijing last week in a major show of solidarity against the U.S.-led West.

An official at South Korea's unification ministry assessed that the disclosure of the latest engine test may be intended as a message against Washington.

"Given that it was reported right after (Kim's) attendance at the Chinese military parade, the latest test appears aimed at the outside world, possibly a message toward the U.S.," the official noted.

Observers predict North Korea could unveil or test-fire the Hwasong-20 ICBM on the occasion of the upcoming Oct. 10 anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea.

To mark the anniversary, the North is preparing its own large-scale military parade, mobilizing some 10,000 people, which may include the return of a mass gymnastics show after five years, South Korea's spy agency has said.