'N. K. will likely gain capacity to test fire new ICBM in 1-2 years'

North Korea succeeded in ground test of a new high-power engine for an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the North’s Korea Central News Agency reported on Saturday. "We have secured a firm guarantee for launching another form of nuclear attack upon the U.S. imperialists and other hostile forces, and acquired more powerful means capable of responding to nuclear weapons with nukes," the KCNA quoted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as saying after inspecting the launch test at the Sohae Space Center in Dongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province.

The new ICBM engine that the North has unveiled is believed to be a larger one (KN-14, an upgrade version of KN-08) than the KN-08 mobile ICBM engine. The South Korean military judges that the blast from the engine is also more powerful than that of the long-range missile that was launched in early February.

The South Korean military judges that the North’s bid to develop a new ICBM has entered the concluding phase, and predicts the North will be able to test fire the long-range missile within one or two years. Since the North already deployed to combat mission its short- to mid-range missiles that are capable of striking the U.S. military bases in South Korea, Japan and Guam, the North is making an "all-in" bet in boosting its capacity in ICBM that can send a small nuclear warhead to the entire U.S. territories.

After Kim Jong Un ordered the North Korean military to develop additional miniaturized nuclear weapons and a carrier (missile) last month, the North has demonstrated that it possesses capacity for ICBM development by disclosing a small apparatus that is believed to be a small-sized nuclear warhead, and conducting mock test of atmospheric re-entry of a warhead, and test of a solid fuel rocket engine, before publicizing the engine test. The North has thus effectively revealed in phases the head (warhead), the body (solid fuel rocket engine for stage 2 and stage 3 rockets), and the tail (engine for stage 1 rocket).

The North’s project completion to expand the Dongchang-ri launch site last year is also seen as a strong sign suggesting Pyongyang’s development of a new type ICBM model. The North disclosed a miniature mockup of the missile with "Unha 9" marked on it, after firing the "Unha 3 rocket" in 2012. It is expected that the new ICBM will use the liquid fuel rocket engine that has been unveiled this time for the stage 1 rocket, and the solid fuel rocket that was disclosed on March 24 as the stage 2 and 3 rockets.

“As North Korea has almost completed miniaturizing of nuclear weapons through four nuclear tests, it apparently thinks that if it loads a small-size nuclear warhead on its new ICBM and deploy it to combat mission, the U.S. will have no choice but to accept the North as a nuclear power," a South Korean military source said.