North Korea confirms test-firing new Hwasong-19 ICBM, calls it 'world’s strongest strategic missile'

North Korea on Friday bragged the launch of its new intercontinental ballistic missile, identified as “Hwasong-19”, and called it “the world’s strongest" and “perfected weapon system.”

On Thursday (October 31), North Korea launched a missile which flew higher and stayed in the air for a longer duration than any other weapon the country had so far fired.

The launch signaled that North Korea, led by Kim Jong Un, has achieved progress in acquiring a nuclear-armed ICBM that can hit the US mainland. However, a report by The Associated Press (AP) mentioned foreign experts as assessing that the country has still a few remaining technological issues to master before acquiring such a functioning ICBM.

Meanwhile, the North’s Korean Central News Agency called “Hwasong-19” as “the world’s strongest strategic missile” and “the perfected weapon system.”

KCNA said Kim, who observed the launch, thanked weapons scientists for demonstrating North Korea’s “matchless strategic nuclear attack capability.”

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As per the KCNA report, Kim also described it as “an appropriate military action” to express North Korea’s resolve to respond to its enemies’ moves that escalated tensions and threats to North Korea’s national security.

Ealier, the South Korea’s military said that North Korea could have tested a solid-fueled missile. However, Friday’s KCNA dispatch didn’t say what propellant the Hwasong-19 ICBM uses.

Meanwhile, observers say the color of exhaust flames seen in North Korean media photos on the launch still suggest the new ICBM uses solid fuels.

Till Thursday’s test, North Korea’s most advanced ICBM was known as the “Hwasong-18” missile which uses solid fuels. Pre-loaded solid propellants make it easier to move missiles and require much less launch preparation times than liquid propellants that must be fueled before liftoffs.

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Over the recent years, North Korea has made steady advancement in its efforts to obtain nuclear-tipped missiles. As per AP report, many foreign experts believe North Korea likely has missiles that can deliver nuclear strikes on all of South Korea, but it has yet to possess nuclear missiles that can travel to the mainland US.

There are questions on whether North Korea has acquired the technology to shield warheads from the high-temperature, high-stress environment of atmospheric reentry.
Also, as per AP report, many foreign analysts say North Korea must have improved altitude control and guidance systems for missiles. They say North Korea needs an ability to place multiple warheads on a single missile to defeat its rivals’ missile defenses.

All of North Korea’s known ICBM tests, including the one on October 31, have been performed on steep angles to avoid neighboring countries.

ON Thursday, South Korean military spokesperson Lee Sung Joon said that a high-angel trajectory launch cannot verify a missile’s re-entry vehicle technology, though North Korea has previously claimed to have acquired that technology.

AP report mentioned observers as stating that the October 31 launch, the North’s first ICBM test in almost a year, was largely meant to catch the attention of America days before the crucial 2024 US Presidential election (scheduled on November 5) and respond to international condemnation over North Korea’s reported dispatch of troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine.

North Korea’s reported troop dispatch highlights the expanding military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. South Korea, the US and others worry North Korea might seek high-tech, sensitive Russian technology to perfect its nuclear and missile programs in return for joining the Russian-Ukraine war.

With inputs from AP.