SpaceWar.com reports: “North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a test of a solid-fuel engine used for long range nuclear missiles, state media reported on Tuesday, marking another key step in in a weapons programme Western powers have failed to stop.

State media said it was the ninth and final test of the engine, indicating that a full test-fire of a new intercontinental ballistic missile could be conducted in coming months.

Kim oversaw the ‘important test’ the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Tuesday, with images showing the leader looking at the flame from the engine test with binoculars.

Another photo showed what appeared to be a red horizontal flame from the test.

It was a ‘ground jet test of high-thrust solid-fuel engine using the composite carbon fiber material,’ KCNA said, adding it was the ‘the last one in the development process’.

The news agency quoted Kim as saying that the new rocket engine ‘heralds a significant change in expanding and strengthening the nuclear strategic forces’ of North Korea…”