North Korea’s state news media released a photograph Wednesday suggesting that the North was working on a more powerful solid-fuel ballistic missile, and said the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, had ordered the production of more rocket engines and warheads. Unlike liquid-fuel rockets, solid-fuel missiles do not have to be loaded with fuel just before launching, a process that can take up to an hour and make the missile vulnerable to a pre-emptive strike. Such missiles are also easier to transport and hide.
Mr. Kim gave his order to bolster the country’s missile arsenal during a visit to the Chemical Material Institute of the Academy of Defense Science, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said, without disclosing when the visit took place.
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