North Korea flexed its military muscle with the test of a huge new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile dubbed Hwasong-19, state media said on Friday, amid international uproar over its troops deployed to aid Russia in Ukraine.

North Korea's state media has confirmed the launch of the Hwasong-19, an advanced intercontinental ballistic missile. This missile test is the longest recorded, escalating concerns about Pyongyang's military ambitions and its potential alliance with Russia amidst geopolitical tensions involving the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea boasted Friday that the new intercontinental ballistic missile it just test-launched is “the world’s strongest,” a claim seen as pure propaganda after experts assessed it as being too big to be useful in a war situation.