North Korea on Tuesday claimed it has successfully conducted a ground test of its new rocket engine, a move South Korean military and experts believe is aimed at boosting its intercontinental ballistic missile program.

According to Pyongyang’s Korea Central News Agency, the test was conducted under supervision of its leader Kim Jong-un and was aimed at developing a rocket that can launch a geostationary satellite into the Earth’s orbit.

The engine’s thrust was about 80 ton-force, which is the weight of 80 tons due to standard gravity and is equivalent to about 784,532 newton. The KCNA said that the engine remained stable during its 200 second-long working time.

If confirmed, this would mark an upgrade from a ground test of the North’s existing rocket that propelled the satellite Kwangmyongsong-4 outside the atmosphere in February. Local experts believe that the engine’s thrust was about 30 ton-force, which means the new engine is about three times more powerful than the existing one.

The rocket used for the Kwangmyongsong-4 is estimated to have a maximum range of some 12,000 kilometers.

“Based on what the North claimed, it would mark an increase in the engine’s thrust capacity,” said Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Jeon Ha-kyu, adding that more analysis is needed to verify if the test was indeed a success.

“We (the military) are assessing that the test was for a new engine that could be used on a long-range missile,” he said.

Tuesday’s engine test sparked speculation that another long-range rocket launch by Pyongyang may be imminent. In the dictatorial regime, a test supervised by Kim himself is of particular significance.

North Korea has been launching satellites as early as in 1998, but the South Korean military believes that it is merely a ruse to disguise the hermit kingdom’s pursuance of propellants for an ICBM that can reach the US mainland.

South Korean military carried out an analysis of the fairing that encased the Kwangmyongsong in February. It concluded that the purpose of the launch was for missile development, based on findings that the encasing did not have any devices to protect the satellite from the impact of the launch.

The UN Security Council resolution bans North Korea from any nuclear or ballistic missile programs, and has slapped powerful economic sanctions against it as punitive action for its Jan. 6 nuclear test and Feb. 7 long-range rocket launch.

But the communist state has repeatedly defied the UNSC, most recently with a nuclear test on Sept. 9.

“We are keeping a keen eye on North Korea concerning the recent rocket. Pyongyang will become more and more isolated as it continues to carry out provocations, along with the condemnation of the international community,” said deputy spokesperson Sun Nahm-kook.

North Korea currently has an intermediate-range Musudan missile deployed. It is believed to have a range of over 3,000 kilometers, but there has been only one case of a successful test launch in June.

South Korean military says that the North has yet to acquire technology to ensure the re-entry of the ICBM into the Earth’s atmosphere. Some experts believe that the Musudan was fired in June at an abnormally high angle to simulate the re-entry environment of an ICBM.

“The significance of today’s test is to boast the North’s supposed nuclear strike capacity. Pyongyang currently only has the ICBM technology to strike the US mainland left to achieve before fully acquiring what it says is a nuclear deterrent,” said Kim Dong-yup, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University.

He pointed out that the engine used Tuesday was to launch a geostationary satellite, which typically orbits at around 30,000 kilometers in altitude, much higher than the previously launched North Korean satellite.

The capacity to launch the satellite into a much-higher orbit translates into the capacity to fire a missile that can cover a much greater distance, he said.

Kim also said that the engine test was to boast to Pyongyang’s citizens that it is pushing to become an advanced country not only in strength, but also in terms of culture with its new satellite.

Pyongyang’s youthful leader has been showing more belligerence than his father and former leader Kim Jong-il, firing more ballistic missiles in his under-five-year rule than the elder Kim did over 18 years.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, said that the North is likely to fire a long-range rocket soon in defiance of the UNSC sanctions.

But professor Kim said it may take more time, since the North may try to use the new engine as leverage against the new US administration that will take office next year.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)