North Korea says it succeeded in a space rocket engine test, raising concerns that it could push ahead with another ballistic missile launch in time with the October tenth anniversary of the founding of its ruling party.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) said Tuesday that leader Kim Jong-un attended a ground-based rocket engine test at the Sohae Space Center in North Pyongan Province.

The test of what it called "a new type high-power engine of a launch vehicle for the geostationary satellite” is deemed to be a follow-up to the firing of the long-range missile Kwangmyongsong-4 in February.

It was Kim's first field guidance at a military-related site since the North conducted its fifth nuclear test on September ninth.