North Korea is hoping bigger is better with its new intercontinental ballistic missile. Experts are skeptical.

• North Korea said it tested a new long-range intercontinental ballistic missile this week.
• State media called the “Hwasongpho-19” the “world’s most powerful strategic missile.”
• Experts say its size would likely affect its mobility in a conflict.

North Korea said it tested the “world’s most powerful strategic missile” earlier this week, but experts say its size may limit its effectiveness in a conflict.

The intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launched on Thursday and flew more than 1,000 km (around 620 miles) in around 86 minutes before landing in the Sea of Japan, the country’s KCNA state news agency reported on Friday. It said it achieved a maximum altitude of close to 7,700 km (around 4,780 miles). Japan’s defense ministry has supported these figures.

KCNA said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the launch of the missile, which it identified as the “Hwasongpho-19.”

Video footage from North Korean state media reshared by NK News on X appears to show the missile’s launch.

Perhaps the most striking feature of the new missile is its size. It has been estimated to be at least 92 feet long — more than 30 feet longer than the US’s LGM-30G Minuteman III ICBM.

Photos released by KCNA show the missile being carried by a huge transporter erector launcher (TEL).

Virginie Grzelczyk, a specialist on North Korea and the Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities at Aston University, told Business Insider that solid-fuel missiles like the Hwasongpho-19 offer a “potentially greater payload capacity, including the possibility of carrying nuclear warheads.”

“However, the Hwasong-19, being notably large, may face operational challenges regarding mobility in a conflict,” Grzelczyk said.

Edward Howell, a Korea Foundation fellow at Chatham House’s Asia-Pacific Program, told BI that “as missiles get bigger and bigger, questions of effectiveness will always be raised.”

“The Hwasong-19 missile may be able to support a heavy warhead, but as the size of a missile increases, its mobility decreases,” he said.

Prior to this latest test, North Korea had last launched an ICBM test in December 2023, according to the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies North Korea Missile Test Database.

Japan’s defense ministry said at the time that that launch lasted for around 73 minutes, traveling around 620 miles and reaching an altitude of around 3,730 miles.

Howell said the latest test’s reportedly longer flight time would suggest North Korea was “improving the sophistication of its delivery systems.”

But the North likely still faces issues readying such weapons for atmospheric reentry.

Lee Sangmin, an expert at South Korea’s Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, told the Associated press that “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,” Sangmin added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to news of the Hwasongpho-19 test on X, saying the “world merely watches” as North Korea’s threat grows.

“Through Moscow’s assistance, North Korea has advanced its artillery and missile capabilities,” Zelenskyy wrote. “Now, they are learning the tactics of modern warfare. Thousands of North Korean soldiers are already near Ukraine’s borders, preparing to fight. And the world is still watching.”

It comes as the US and South Korea held joint drone strike drills for the first time, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on Friday.

A military source told the outlet that the two countries decided to make the drills public as a warning to North Korea following the ICBM test launch.