The unification ministry has assessed that North Korea’s active media coverage of a test of a new high-thrust solid-fuel engine for an intercontinental ballistic missile(ICBM) was a message aimed at the U.S. 

A ministry official revealed the assessment to reporters on Tuesday, citing that the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency, which is geared toward a foreign audience, had actively covered the engine test while the Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper for domestic readers, briefly mentioned the test. 

The official said the North was apparently seeking to send a message to Washington by publishing news on the engine test shortly after its leader Kim Jong-un attended China’s military parade marking the 80th anniversary of China's victory over Japan at the end of World War II.
  
Earlier in the day, the KCNA said that the Missile Administration, together with a chemical materials research institute, carried out another ground test of a high-thrust solid-fuel engine built with composite carbon fiber material the previous day, under Kim's supervision.