The secret of the rapid development of the missile program of North Korea is revealed. According to experts from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London, powerful engines for the "Hwangsong-14" were made in Dnepropetrovsk "Yuzhmash" and smuggled to North Korea.

The progress of the North Korean missile program was ensured by Ukraine. Specialists from all over the world speculated how Pyongyang, after a series of unsuccessful trials, suddenly in a matter of months designed new missiles that immediately flew high and far. The answer was prompted by photographs in which the leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong Un, examines the pride of the nation - the Hwangson-14 missile. Experts noted that its engines are the R-250 engines of the Soviet heavy intercontinental ballistic missile R-36 (classified by NATO as SS-9). According to The New York Times, such conclusions allowed to make a characteristic nozzle of the main engine and four swinging steering engines.

In the Soviet times and after the collapse of the USSR, the R-250 was made in Ukraine. But after 2014. Contracts were broken, and "Yuzhmash" secretly sold engines to Pyongyang, believe in IISS. North Koreans have been very interested in these technologies before. Six years ago on "Yuzhmash" were even caught two spies from the DPRK. Probably, Pyongyang found it easier to agree with the current Ukrainian authorities.

On the eve of the former CIA director Leon Panetta also noted that the surprisingly short timeframe for which the DPRK was able to create workable ICBMs intended for delivery of a nuclear charge suggests that the North Koreans have already got a ready engine. In turn, the German analyst Norbert Brugge also recognized the similarity of the Hvanson-14 designs with the products of Yuzhmash,.

Meanwhile, in July, Yuzhmash already had to justify itself about selling technology abroad, in particular, to China.

The company officially stated that it did not participate in the transfer of potentially dangerous technologies to other countries, since this damages the interests of Ukraine as a producer.

But, according to The New York Times, US special services do not believe this statement. Now they are trying to find evidence that the North Korean missile actually took off with the help of Ukrainian engines. And then the main tasks will be to find out exactly how they got there and how much.