North Korea blunder as terrifying new missile 'too big'

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 said

Reentry 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 Analyses

Acquiring 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

The 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 increased length likely means a greater fuel capacity, which directly affects thrust and potentially increases range,

Kim said

It can be stored and moved anywhere, allowing for excellent mobility, stealth and survivability,

said Kim of the University of North Korean Studies

North Korea may continue testing to see if, during the final reentry phase, the warheads can separate and each head toward individual targets,

Kim added

I affirm that the DPRK [North Korea] will never change its line of bolstering up its nuclear forces."

Kim added

We'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 new-type ICBM proved before the world that the hegemonic position we have secured in the development and manufacture of nuclear delivery,

leader Kim Jong Un said while overseeing the launch, KCNA reported