North korea hails successful test of rocket to launch satellites

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a ground test of a new rocket engine to launch satellites, the North's state media reported Tuesday, the latest in a rapid succession of missile-related tests this year by the isolated state.
Kim asked the scientists and engineers to make "preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible on the basis of the successful test," the official KCNA news agency said, indicating the North may soon launch another long-range rocket.
The test was conducted amid global condemnation of the North's fifth nuclear test earlier this month and a call by the United States, Japan and South Korea this week for greater pressure on Pyongyang over its disregard for United Nations resolutions banning missile and nuclear programmes.


North Korea has been testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate this year under Kim's direction, including the launch of a satellite in February that was widely seen as a test of long-range ballistic missile technology.
The North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper carried photographs of Kim on a podium overlooking the vertical test stand that housed a rocket engine that blasted a column of flame.
A spokesman for South Korea's military, Jeon Ha-gyu, said the test was likely of the performance of a new engine that can be used for a long-range missile.

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