Test follows North Korea’s recent launch of a long-range missile amid speculation regime could soon conduct nuclear test

South Korea has said it has successfully test-fired a solid-fuel space rocket for the first time, as it attempts to ramp up its defences after North Korea’s recent launch of a long-range missile and amid speculation that the regime could soon conduct a nuclear test.

The South’s defence ministry said Wednesday’s launch, from a site 150km (93 miles) south-west of Seoul, was an “important milestone” in the country’s ability to monitor its neighbour, as it would allow it to eventually launch satellites to spy on the North.

South Korea is no promised land for escapees from a brutal regime – loneliness and poverty are common fates

No one knows what awaited Kim Woo-joo when he arrived back in North Korea, just over a year after he had fled the world’s most oppressive regime for a life of freedom in the South.

Earlier this month, the 29-year-old former gymnast approached the border separating the two Koreas, scaled a tall barbed-wire fence and walked the 2.5 miles across the heavily armed demilitarised zone (DMZ), dodging landmines but not security cameras, which captured his escape no fewer than five times.