North Korea tests new type of high-thrust solid-fuel engines for ballistic missiles

North Korea tested a new type of high-thrust solid-fuel engines for ballistic missiles, state-run media reported on Wednesday.

The first ground jet test was successfully conducted on Nov. 11, while the second stage engine test was carried out on Nov. 14, the Korean Central News Agency reported.

The tests were designed to evaluate the technical specifications of the newly developed high-thrust solid-fuel engines for intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBM), the news agency said, adding that the tests provided a certain guarantee for reliably accelerating the development of the new-type IRBM system.

At a time when the dynamic struggle is being accelerated to bolster the country's defense capabilities in every way, the North Korean missile industry has developed such engines for IRBM missiles again, which are of important strategic significance, it said.

Meanwhile, South Korea and the US conducted joint air drills over the Yellow Sea on Wednesday, involving two US B-52H strategic bombers, the Defense Ministry in Seoul said.

South Korean F-35A, F-15K, and U.S. F-35B and F-16 fighter jets escorted the nuclear-capable bombers during the drills, the ministry said, as the allies seek to bolster security cooperation against growing North Korean military threats.

The exercise marked the key US military asset's return to the peninsula in less than a month after it made its first-ever landing at a South Korean air base on Oct. 17.