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The DPRK will further intensify its practical efforts to deter the military threat of the hostile forces and maintain the balance of forces in the region,
an unnamed spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry said on state news agency KCNA
When missiles get bigger, what happens? The vehicles get larger, too. As the transporter-erector launchers get bigger, their mobility decreases."
Lee Sangmin, an expert at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, said
In the event of a conflict, such an exposure makes the weapon a target of a preemptive attack by opponents, so there would be a big issue of survivability."
He saidReentry technology is crucial for ICBMs, yet North Korea seems to prioritize range over these essential capabilities,
Lee Sangmin noted
When missiles increase in size, the launch vehicles do too, which hampers mobility,
explained Lee Sangmin, a researcher at South Korea's Korea Institute for Defense AnalysesAcquiring reentry technology is currently the most important goal in North Korea’s missile development, specifically for ICBMs, but they just keep increasing the ranges instead. This possibly suggests they still lack confidence in their reentry technology,
Lee Sangmin said
I affirm that the DPRK [North Korea] will never change its line of bolstering up its nuclear forces."
Kim addedThe missile continues to underwrite the growing credibility of North Korea's strategic deterrent capabilities,
said Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, ... adding that
The new-type ICBM proved before the world that the hegemonic position we have secured in the development and manufacture of nuclear delivery means of the same kind is absolutely irreversible,
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said while overseeing the launch, ... KCNA reportedNorth Korea may continue testing to see if, during the final reentry phase, the warheads can separate and each head toward individual targets,
Kim addedThe increased length likely means a greater fuel capacity, which directly affects thrust and potentially increases range,
Kim saidIt can be stored and moved anywhere, allowing for excellent mobility, stealth and survivability,
said Kim of the University of North Korean StudiesEven if some level of military cooperation between North Korea and Russia is possible, they are likely to be very cautious when it comes to core military technologies,
he saidWe've not yet seen these troops deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces, but we would expect that to happen in the coming days,
he said,
The test of the latest strategic weapon system updated the recent records of the strategic missile capability of the DPRK and demonstrated the modernity and creditability of its world's most powerful strategic deterrent,
the KCNA said, using the acronym of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
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Today, I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia, and that North Korean military units have been deployed to the Kursk region."
Confirming intelligence from Ukraine, Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte said earlier on Monday
Russia actually provided new technology for reentering the atmosphere,
said Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies
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I think that the reaction to this is nothing; it has been zero,
Zelensky said
We estimate that its flying altitude was the highest we have seen,
Japanese defence minister Gen Nakatani told reporters
North Korea could have probably thought that its rivals could look down on it after it gave away so much in military resources to Russia,
Yang Uk, an expert at South Korea's Asan Institute Institute for Policy Studies told Defense News