South Korean technicians said an examination of a North Korean rocket launched earlier this month has uncovered evidence suggesting the rocket's military purposes, and the North's ties with Iran in developing a long-range ballistic missile, the New York Times reported.

North Korea has asserted that its Unha-3 rocket, launched Dec. 12 to put an earth-observation satellite in orbit, was part of a peaceful space program. However, officials and rocket scientists with ties to the South Korea Defense Ministry said the launch was Pyongyang's attempt to test a ballistic missile that can fly more than 6,000 miles, putting the West Coast of the United States in range.

More from the New York Times:

Over the weekend, the South Korean Navy also salvaged the remnants of the rocket’s fuel tank and part of its engine, which officials hoped would provide more clues to the North’s rocket technology.

So far, the officials said they have concluded that the rocket’s first-stage engine was made of four North Korean “Rodong” missile engines latched together, and that the North Koreans used their Scud-type missile engine for the rocket’s second-stage booster.

“They efficiently developed a three-stage long-range missile by using their existing Rodong and Scud missile technology,” a senior military intelligence official said on Sunday, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity.

United Nations Security Council resolutions imposed in 2006 and 2009 following the North's nuclear tests banned the country from launching rockets with ballistic missile technology.

 

Read the full story at the New York Times. Find more Neon Tommy coverage of North Korea here.

Reach Executive Producer Danny Lee here; follow him here.