SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea boasted Friday: new intercontinental ballistic missile The claim that this vehicle, which had just been launched for testing purposes, was the “most powerful in the world” was seen as pure propaganda after experts assessed that it was too large to be used in a war situation.

The ICBM launched Thursday flew higher and longer than any other weapon North Korea has tested. But foreign experts say the test does not show that North Korea has mastered some of the last remaining technological hurdles to having operational ICBMs capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.

North Korean Central News Agency identified the missile as “Hwasong-19” and called it “the world’s most powerful strategic missile” and “perfect weapon system”. The official media outlet said leader Kim Jong Un observed the launch and described it as an expression of North Korea’s determination to respond to threats to North Korea’s security.

The color and shape of the exhaust flames seen in North Korean media launch photos indicate that the missile was used preloaded solid fuel, This makes the weapons more agile and harder to detect than liquid propellants, which generally need to be pre-charged.

But experts say the photos show the large size of both the ICBM and the launch vehicle, raising serious questions about their wartime mobility and survivability.

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

Chang Young-keun, a missile expert at the Korea National Research Institute in Seoul, said the Hwasong-19 is estimated to be at least 28 meters long (92 feet), while advanced U.S. and Russian ICBMs are less than 20 meters (66 feet) long. he said. Strategy. suggested this Warning from South Korea The imminence of North Korea’s ICBM launch on Wednesday had to do with the size of the missile.

“In the event of a conflict, such exposure makes the weapon the target of preemptive strikes by adversaries, thus presenting a major survivability issue,” Chang said.

Lee Illwoo, an expert at the Korean Defense Network in South Korea, said North Korea may have developed a larger missile to carry larger and more destructive warheads or multiple warheads. If that’s the case, Lee said North Korea may have used liquid fuel because it produces higher thrust than solid fuels. Some advanced liquid propellants can be stored in missiles for several weeks before launch, he said.

Lee said North Korea may have placed 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 that North Korea likely has missiles capable of launching a nuclear attack on all of South Korea, but it does not yet have nuclear missiles capable of striking the U.S. mainland.

Among the hurdles it has yet to overcome, according to experts, are ensuring warheads can withstand the heat and stress of atmospheric reentry, improving altitude control and guidance systems for missiles, and being able to use multiple warheads on a single missile to defeat the missile. defenses.

“Achieving reentry technology is currently the most important goal in North Korea’s missile development, especially ICBMs, but instead they continue to increase ranges. This probably shows that they still don’t trust their re-entry technology,” said Lee Sangmin.

Chang said Friday’s state media post about the launch lacked details on the technological aspects of Hawsong-19 and focused on promotion.

Other claims by North Korea about its weapons capabilities have been met with widespread skepticism from outside.

In June, North Korea claimed to have tested multiple warhead missile It was the first known launch of such a weapon, but South Korea said the weapon exploded instead. In July, North Korea announced that it had tested a new tactical ballistic missile that could carry “a super-large warhead” South Korea said the claim was an attempt to conceal a failed launch.

Observers say Thursday’s launch, the North’s first ICBM test in almost a year, was largely aimed at attracting American attention and responding to international condemnation days before the US presidential election. North Korea reportedly dispatched troops To Russia to support its war against Ukraine.

North Korea’s reported troop shipment underscores the expanding military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. South Korea. The United States and others worry that North Korea may seek high-tech, precision Russian technology to perfect its nuclear and missile programs in exchange for joining Russia-Ukraine war.