North Korea tests rocket as US talks up missile shield

North Korea said it successfully tested an engine for a new intercontinental ballistic rocket that could be used to carry out nuclear strikes on hostile forces, a day after US Defense Secretary Ash Carter reiterated plans to deploy a missile defence system in South Korea in the face of Chinese opposition.

The trial was a "big success," North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said, according to a statement carried by state-controlled Korean Central News Agency. South Korea's defence ministry confirmed the statement and said it is now closely monitoring the situation.

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"We can now equip new type of intercontinental ballistic rockets with more powerful nuclear warheads," KCNA quoted Kim as saying.

Carter, who is travelling to Asia next week, said after a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York that the proposed placement of the US Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missile defense system in South Korea is "going to happen" even though China opposes the move.