North Korea boasts world’s ‘most powerful’ missile, but experts say it’s too big to be used in war

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea boasted Friday that the new intercontinental ballistic missile it just launched is the “most powerful in the world.” The statement is seen as pure propaganda after experts judged it too big to be useful in war. situation.

The ICBM launched Thursday flew higher and longer than any other weapon North Korea has tested. But foreign experts say the tests did not show North Korea has cleared some of the last remaining technological hurdles to possessing operational intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of striking the U.S. mainland.

North Korea’s Central News Agency identified the missile as the Hwasong-19 and called it “the most powerful strategic missile in the world” and a “perfect weapon system.” Official media reported that leader Kim Jong Un observed the launch, calling it an expression of North Korea’s determination to respond to threats to North Korean security.

The color and shape of the exhaust flames seen in North Korean media photos of the launch suggest the missile uses pre-loaded solid propellant, making the weapon more maneuverable and difficult to detect than liquid propellant, which typically needs to be loaded in advance .

But experts say the photographs show the ICBM and its launch vehicle are large, raising serious questions about their mobility and wartime survivability.

“What happens when rockets get bigger? Vehicles are also getting bigger. As carrier-launchers become larger, their mobility decreases,” Lee Sangmin, an expert at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyzes in South Korea.

The Hwasong-19 was estimated to be at least 28 meters (92 feet) long, while advanced U.S. and Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles are less than 20 meters (66 feet) long, said Chang Yong-geun, a missile expert at the Seoul-based Korea Scientific Research Center. -Research Institute for National Studies. Strategy. He suggested that South Korea’s warning on Wednesday that a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile launch was imminent was related to the missile’s size.

“In the event of a conflict, this impact makes the weapon the target of a preemptive attack by adversaries, so there is a big problem with survivability,” Chang said.

Lee Ilwu, an expert with the Korean Defense Network in South Korea, said North Korea may have developed a larger missile carrying larger and more destructive warheads or multiple warheads. If so, Lee said, North Korea could use liquid fuel because it produces higher thrust than solid fuel. He said some modern liquid fuels can be stored in rockets for several weeks before launch.

Lee said North Korea may have installed a dummy warhead on the Hwasong-19 to make it fly higher.

In recent years, North Korea has reported steady progress in its efforts to obtain nuclear-tipped missiles. Many foreign experts believe North Korea likely has missiles capable of launching nuclear strikes across South Korea, but it does not yet have nuclear missiles capable of hitting the US mainland.

Obstacles it still has to overcome include ensuring its warheads can withstand the heat and stress of re-entry, improving altitude control and missile guidance systems, and the ability to use multiple warheads on a single missile to kill a missile, experts say. protection.

“Acquiring reentry technology is currently the most important goal in North Korea’s missile development, especially ICBMs, but instead they just keep increasing their range. This may indicate that they still lack confidence in their reentry technology,” said Lee Sangmin.

Chung said Friday’s state media report on the launch lacked detailed information about the technological aspects of Hawsong-19 and focused on advertising.

Other North Korean claims about its weapons capabilities have been met with great skepticism outside the country.

In June, North Korea said it tested a missile with multiple warheads in the first known launch of such a weapon, but South Korea said the weapon exploded instead. In July, when North Korea said it had tested a new tactical ballistic missile capable of carrying an “ultra-large warhead,” South Korea said the announcement was an attempt to cover up a failed launch.

Observers say Thursday’s launch, North Korea’s first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile in nearly a year, was largely intended to grab America’s attention days before the U.S. presidential election and respond to international condemnation over a report that North Korea was sending troops to Russia to support it. war against Ukraine.

Reports of North Korean troop deployments highlight the growing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. South Korea. The United States and other countries are concerned that North Korea could use high-tech and sensitive Russian technology to improve its nuclear and missile programs in exchange for joining the Russia-Ukraine war.