Alwaght- North Korea on Saturday announces a successful test of an engine for intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with the ability of carrying out a nuclear attack on the United States.
Without mentioning the time of the test, early on Saturday North Korea's official KCNA news agency reported that the engine's test was ordered and personally monitored by leader Kim Jong-un.
As soon as Kim flagged off the test, “the engine spewed out huge flames with deafening boom”, KCNA said. “The great success… provided a firm guarantee for mounting another form of nuclear attack upon the US imperialists and other hostile forces,” Kim was quoted as saying.
Now, Pyongyang "can tip new-type intercontinental ballistic rockets with more powerful nuclear warheads and keep any cesspool of evils in the earth, including the US mainland, within our striking range," he added.
It was the latest in a series of North Korea's claims of great achievements in both its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
Pyongyang has also stepped up its anti-US rhetoric over the past few weeks, threatening Washington of preemptive nuclear strikes.
Having repeatedly shunned North Korean proposals for negotiations over the last several years, the US government on early March succeeded in securing harsh UN sanctions that can only further strain relations.
The US is using UN Security Council resolutions to wage an economic warfare against North Korea and imposing collective punishment on the entire country’s population.
Pyongyang says developing a nuclear weapon is necessary in order to protect itself against US interference in North Korean affairs, and that the bomb can defend Pyongyang against any invasion.
