By Alex Jensen

SEOUL

North Korea has made a further breakthrough in its long-range missile development by successfully testing a new ICBM engine, according to the country’s state-run KCNA news agency Saturday.

The report claimed that leader Kim Jong-un personally oversaw the test at the North’s Sohae Space Center – the site of February’s satellite launch that, along with a fourth ever nuclear test in January, drew strengthened United Nations sanctions against Pyongyang.

Kim was quoted as stating that the new engine would offer North Korea a more powerful way of striking its enemies, including the United States mainland, which he referred to as a “cesspool of evils in the earth.”

The North has made a series of similar boasts since asserting that it carried out a hydrogen bomb test at the start of the year – other claims include making significant progress with its nuclear warhead technology as well as developing the ability to power rockets with solid fuel.

All these efforts – along with more obvious short-range missile tests – have demonstrated a disregard for global efforts to curb North Korea’s weapon ambitions.

Pyongyang sees nuclear development as a sovereign right, even as its old ally China has been growing visibly frustrated with the North’s destabilizing defense policy.

But analysts view North Korea’s military-oriented push this year as an attempt to foster domestic political unity – next month will mark the first Workers’ Party Congress in the authoritarian state for nearly four decades.

South Korean and American experts have also raised doubts about whether the North is even capable of fitting a nuclear warhead on to a missile, let alone being able to hit the U.S.

The South is certainly within North Korea’s range though, and Seoul has been holding talks with Washington about deploying a missile defense system known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), much to the annoyance of China – which has accused the U.S. of using the system as a pretext for spying thanks to its powerful radar.