Seoul, Mar 29: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed a test of an upgraded, high-thrust, solid-fuel engine for weapons and hailed it as a signficant development to boost the country’s strategic military capability, state media reported Sunday.

While the test was in line with Kim’s stated goal of acquiring more agile, hard-to-detect missiles targeting the United States and its allies, some experts speculate North Korea’s claim may be an exaggeration.

The Korean Central News Agency reported Kim watched the ground jet test of the engine using a composite carbon fiber material. It said the engine’s maximum trust is 2,500 kilotons, up from about 1,970 kilotons reported in a similar solid-fuel engine test in September.

KCNA reported the test was conducted as part of the country’s five-year arms build-up meant to upgrade “strategic strike means,” a term referring to nuclear-capable ballistic missiles and other weapons.

Kim said the latest engine test had “great significance in putting the country’s strategic military muscle on the highest level,” according to KCNA.

KCNA did not report exactly when or where the test occurred.

North Korea’s report on the latest test could be “bluffing” as it didn’t disclose some key information like the engine’s total combustion time, said Lee Choon Geun, an honorary research fellow at South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute.

When North Korea described the September test as the ninth and final ground test of a solid-fuel engine that it earlier said would be used for intercontinental ballistic missiles. Observers predicted at the time North Korea would soon test-launch an ICBM loaded with that engine, but it hasn’t done so yet.

North Korea’s solid-fuel engine development program may be facing some delays or the country might have determined to develop a better engine, possibly with Russian technical assistence, Lee said. Cooperation between the countries has deepened in recent years, with the North sending troops and conventional weapons to support Russia’s war against Ukraine.

In recent years, North Korea has test-fired a variety of ICBMs demonstrating the potential range to reach the US mainland, including missiles with solid propellants that make detection prior to liftoff more difficult. The country’s older liquid-fuel missiles must be fueled before liftoffs and cannot last long.

Some of North Korea’s past claims about major weapons test-launches drew outside scepticm. In 2024, North Korea claimed to have successfully tested a multiwarhead missile, but South Korea quickly dismissed the claim as deception to cover up a failed launch.

Some foreign experts say North Korea still faces technological hurdles before it has a functioning ICBM, such as ensuring its warheads survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric reentry. But others dispute that assessment given the number of years the country has spent on its nuclear and missile programs.

Possession of more powerful and efficient solid-fuel engines would allow North Korea to build smaller ICBMs that can be launched from submarines or land-based mobile launch trucks, Lee said. Other observers say a push to increase the engine power is likely associated with efforts to place multiple warheads on a single missile to increase chances of defeating US defences.

North Korea has pushed hard to expand its nuclear arsenal since Kim’s high-stakes diplomacy with US President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. In a ruling Workers’ Party congress in February, Kim left open the door for dialogue with Trump but urged Washington to drop demands for the North’s nuclear disarmament as a precondition for talks. (AP)

Dubai, Mar 29: Iranian-backed Houthi rebels entered the month-old war in the Middle East on Saturday, claiming two missile launches at Israel.

About 2,500 US Marines arrived in the region. And Pakistan’s government said that regional powers plan to meet Sunday to discuss how to end the fighting.

The war has threatened global supplies of oil and natural gas, sparked fertilizer shortages and disrupted air travel. Iran’s grip on the strategic Strait of Hormuz has shaken markets and prices.

The United States and Israel continue to strike Iran, whose retaliatory attacks have targeted Israel and neighbouring Gulf Arab states. More than 3,000 people have been killed.

The Houthis’ entry could further hurt global shipping if they again target vessels in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off the Red Sea, through which about 12 per cent of the world’s trade typically passes.

There could be limited relief after Iran on Friday agreed to allow humanitarian aid and agricultural shipments through the Strait of Hormuz following a UN request. US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has given Iran until April 6 to reopen the strait.

Witnesses in Tehran reported heavy strikes late Saturday.

Israel’s military earlier said that it targeted Iran’s naval weapons production facilities, and said that it would finish attacking essential weapons production sites within “a few days.”

Iran fired missiles toward Israel. The US said that it has struck more than 11,000 Iranian targets in the war. And Ukraine’s president visited Gulf nations as his country offers defense help with drones.

Houthi involvement sparks concerns

Houthi Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said on the rebels’ Al-Masirah satellite television station that they launched missiles toward “sensitive Israeli military sites” in the south.

If the Houthis increase attacks on commercial shipping, as they have in the past, it would further push up oil prices and destabilize “all of maritime security,” said Ahmed Nagi, a senior Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group. “The impact would not be limited to the energy market.”

The Bab el-Mandeb, at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is crucial for vessels heading to the Suez Canal through the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia has been sending millions of barrels of crude oil a day through it because the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed.

Houthi rebels attacked more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels, between November 2023 and January 2025, saying that it was acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war.

The Houthis’ latest involvement would complicate the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the aircraft carrier that arrived in Croatia on Saturday for maintenance. Sending it to the Red Sea could draw attacks similar to those on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2024 and the USS Harry S. Truman in 2025.

The Houthis have held Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014. Saudi Arabia launched a war against the Houthis on behalf of Yemen’s exiled government in 2015, and they now have an uneasy ceasefire.

Diplomacy attempts as US beefs up troop numbers

Pakistan said that Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will send top diplomats to Islamabad for talks aimed at ending the war, arriving Sunday for a two-day visit. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that he and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian held “extensive discussions” on regional hostilities.

But Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his Turkish counterpart by phone that Tehran was skeptical about recent diplomatic efforts. Iranian state-run media said that Araghchi accused the United States of making “unreasonable demands” and exhibiting “contradictory actions.”

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar later spoke with Araghchi and urged “an end to all attacks and hostilities.”

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff has said that Washington delivered a 15-point “action list” to Iran for a possible ceasefire, with a proposal to restrict Iran’s nuclear program — the issue at the heart of tensions with the U.S. and Israel — and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran rejected it and presented a five-point proposal that included reparations and recognition of its sovereignty over the waterway.

Meanwhile, US ships with around 2,500 Marines trained in amphibious landings have arrived, adding to the largest American force in the region in more than two decades. And at least 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division, trained to land in hostile territory to secure key positions and airfields, have been ordered to the Middle East.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that Washington “can achieve all of our objectives without ground troops.”

US troops wounded at Saudi base

More than two dozen US troops have been wounded in Iranian attacks on Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Air Base in the past week, according to two people briefed on the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to comment publicly.

Iran fired six ballistic missiles and 29 drones at the base Friday, injuring at least 15 troops, five of them seriously, they said.

The base, about 96 kilometers (60 miles) from the Saudi capital Riyadh, was attacked twice earlier in the week, including a strike that wounded 14 US troops, according to the people briefed on the matter.

More than 300 US service members have been wounded in the war. At least 13 have been reported killed.

Death toll climbs

Iranian authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed in the Islamic Republic, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.

In Lebanon, where Israel has started an invasion in the south while targeting the Hezbollah militant group, officials said that more than 1,100 people in the country have been killed since the start of the war.

In Iraq, where Iranian-supported militia groups have entered the conflict, 80 members of the security forces have died.

In Gulf states, 20 people have been killed. Four have been killed in the occupied West Bank.