North Korea's latest missile launches are a demonstration of the country's avowed ability to use nuclear force against South Korea and the mainland U.S. How immediate is that threat? North Korea claims its nuclear forces are capable of destroying its rivals, and often follows its provocative weapons tests with launch details. But many foreign experts call the North’s claims propaganda and suggest that the country is not yet capable of hitting the United States or its allies with a nuclear weapon. There’s no question that North Korea has nuclear bombs, and that it has missiles that place the U.S. mainland, South Korea and Japan within striking distance. What’s not yet clear is whether the country has mastered the tricky engineering required to join the bombs and the missiles. ___ ICBMs North Korea has demonstrated that it has missiles that could fly far enough to reach deep into the continental U.S., but it's not clear whether they can survive reentering the Earth's atmosphere on arrival. North Korea said it launched a Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile on Saturday to verify the weapon’s reliability and the combat readiness of the country’s nuclear forces. It’s one of three kinds of ICBMs the country has developed, along with the Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-17. All three are liquid-fueled, and North Korea has portrayed them all as nuclear-capable. Launched almost straight up to avoid the territories of neighbors, the weapon reached a maximum altitude of about 5,770 kilometers (3,585 miles) and flew 990 kilometers (615 miles), according to North Korean state media. The reported flight details suggest the missile could travel 13,000 kilometers (8,080 miles) or beyond if launched on a normal trajectory. “These days, North Korea has been disclosing information about its launches in a very detailed manner to try to let others believe what they’ve done is genuine,” analyst Shin Jong-woo at South Korea’s Defense and Security Forum said. “But I think that’s part of their propaganda.” There are questions on whether North Korea has acquired the technology to shield warheads from the high-temperature, high-stress environment of atmospheric reentry. A South Korean biennial defense document released last week said it’s not clear whether the missiles can survive reentry, because all of North Korea’s ICBM tests have so far been made on high angles. Read more: US urges UN to condemn North Korea; China, Russia blame US Lee Choon Geun, an honorary research fellow at South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute, said a normal trajectory would cause greater stress, as a warhead would spend a longer time passing through altitudes with high air density. North Korean state media said the launch was made “suddenly” after a surprise order from leader Kim Jong Un. “The Kim regime’s claims of short-notice launches are thus intended to demonstrate not only the development of strategic and tactical nuclear forces but also the operational capability to use them,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said. In a military parade earlier this month, North Korea showcased around a dozen ICBMs, an unprecedented number that suggested progress in its efforts to mass-produce powerful weapons. Among them were huge canister-sealed missiles that experts say were likely a version of a solid-fuel ICBM that North Korea has been trying to develop in recent years. Solid-fueled systems allow missiles to be mobile on the ground and make them faster to launch. ___ WARHEADS North Korea likely has dozens of nuclear warheads. The question is whether they are small enough to fit on a missile. North Korea has so far performed six underground nuclear test explosions to manufacture warheads that it can place on missiles. Outside estimates of the number of North Korean nuclear warheads vary widely, ranging from 20-60 to up to about 115. In a 2021 interview with 38 North, a North Korea-focused website, renowned nuclear physicist Siegfried Hecker, who has visited North Korea’s main Yongbyon nuclear complex numerous times, said that “20 to 60 is possible, with the most likely number being 45.” Some experts argue that North Korea has likely already built miniaturized nuclear warheads to be mounted on missiles, citing the number of years the country has spent on its nuclear and missile programs. But others say North Korea is still years away from producing such warheads. “After its sixth nuclear test, people accepted that North Korea really will have nuclear weapons. But they are still debating whether it has warhead miniaturization technology,” Shin, the analyst, said. The North described its sixth nuclear test in 2017 as a detonation of a thermonuclear bomb built for ICBMs. It created a tremor that measured magnitude 6.3, and some studies put its estimated explosive yield at about 50 to 140 kilotons of TNT. In comparison, the pair of atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II — which killed a total of more than 210,000 people — yielded explosions equivalent to about 15 and 20 kilotons of TNT, respectively. The biennial South Korean defense document said North Korea is estimated to have 70 kilograms (154 pounds) of weapons-grade plutonium. Some observers say that's enough for about 9-18 bombs. The document estimated that North Korea has “a considerable amount of” highly enriched uranium as well. North Korea’s Yongbyon complex has facilities to produce both plutonium and highly enriched uranium, the two main ingredients to build nuclear weapons. Plutonium plants are generally large and generate a lot of heat, making them easier to detect. But a uranium enrichment plant is more compact and can be easily hidden from satellite cameras. North Korea is believed to be running at least one additional covert uranium enrichment facility, in addition to one at its Yongbyon complex. ___ SHORT-RANGE WEAPONS Following the collapse of diplomacy with then-U.S. President Donald Trump in 2019, Kim sped up the development of short-range solid-fuel, nuclear-capable missiles designed to strike key targets in South Korea, including U.S. military bases there. The so-called “tactical” nuclear weapons include what North Korea calls “super-large” 600-millimeter multiple rocket launchers that it tested Monday. South Korea describes the weapon as a short-range missile system. North Korean state media said its new artillery system can carry nuclear warheads, and that four rockets would be enough to wipe out an enemy airfield. The statement drew quick outside doubts about whether the weapons are indeed nuclear-capable. “The North Korean claim doesn’t make sense to some extent. ... Why do they need four tactical nuclear weapons to destroy just one airfield?” Shin, the analyst, said. “Also, which country would disclose such attack scenarios via state media?” Other new North Korean short-range systems include missiles that were apparently modeled after the Russian Iskander mobile ballistic system or outwardly resemble the U.S. MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System. Launched from land vehicles, these missiles are designed to be maneuverable and fly at low altitudes, theoretically giving them a better chance of defeating South Korean and U.S. missile defense systems. Whether North Korea has an ability to arm short-range missiles with nuclear warheads has not been independently confirmed. While North Korea may be able to place simple nuclear warheads on some of its older missiles, including Scuds or Rodong missiles, it would likely require further technology advancements and nuclear tests to build smaller and more advanced warheads that can be installed on its newer tactical systems, said Lee, the expert. North Korea also has an intermediate-range, nuclear-capable Hwasong-12 missile capable of reaching Guam, a major U.S. military hub in the Pacific. It has been developing a family of mid-range, solid-fuel Pukguksong missiles which are designed to be fired from submarines or land vehicles.

Terming the countrywide load-shedding an early sign of grave economic crisis, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday said the government will now find it very difficult to overcome the crisis and prevent its fall. “The economists are saying problems are being created in every sector. The government will now be at a loss for what to do.  People are fuming and they’ll burst with anger, hastening the fall of the government,” he said. Speaking at a press conference at BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office, Fakhrul also said the government has given around $7.5 to the Export Development Fund from the reserves to abet those who are doing business in different countries. “They siphoned off the money abroad and built houses there. So, that money is not coming to the country anymore. This is the beginning of the crisis.” He feared that the country’s economy will be hit hard by the frequent power outages as production in RMG and other sectors will be hampered by it. “The economy of Bangladesh mainly depends on the garment industry. When there is a shortfall in power and energy supply in that sector, problems will arise regarding the production and transportation,” the BNP leader observed. Mentioning that fuel oil and electricity are deeply intertwined with the economy, he said when the rationing system is introduced in power distribution, there will be a considerable possibility of reduction in production. “The economists are saying that this (load-shedding) is a temporary measure. They (govt) have to take steps toward a permanent solution to the problem. But they’re not going in that direction. They are not raising prices (of power) further in fear of facing public wrath as the prices have already been increased. But the economy is suffering tremendously,” the BNP leader viewed. He said the government will have to now pay the power plants that are not generating electricity due to the fuel crisis.  “In that case, a large part of the money will be spent and in most cases, these payments are made in dollars. These problems have been created due to rampant corruption and for lack of the government's plans. Their only goal is to indulge in corruption everywhere.” The BNP leader said the government paid about TK78,000 crores to the power plants that did not generate any electricity. “It is being now said that six diesel-run power plants remain closed, but they and other plants will continue to get money. I saw in the newspaper that Tk1760 crores will have to be spent for them annually. It’s now proved that they (govt) did it to create a scope for special companies to make money and thus they themselves benefited from it.” He warned that the government must be accountable to people someday for plundering public money by paying the power plant owners without producing electricity. Apart from the power sector, the BNP leader said the government is cutting money from people's pockets in various ways in the name of mega projects. "The biggest problem now in Bangladesh is the lack of good governance and accountability anywhere. So, corruption is the main cause behind the crisis that has now arisen." Fakhrul said the government should not undertake any plan or project which will be a burden on the country. ”If we buy outsized shoes we cannot wear them. That is what exactly now happening in the country, but people have to pay for it.” Even, he said the experts are warning that a situation like Sri Lanka may arise in seven other countries, including Bangladesh. At the press conference, Fakhrul also came up with the decisions made at a virtual meeting of their party’s standing committee on Monday. He said their meeting strongly condemned the recent attacks on the Hindu community members and on their houses and temples in Narail. It also formed a three-member investigation committee, headed by party vice chairman Advocate Nitai Roy Chowdhury, to look into the incident, the BNP leader said. He said the probe body has been asked to submit the report by July 26. Fakhrul said their standing committee meeting voiced concern over the crash of a cargo plane carrying arms from Serbia for Bangladesh on July 16. He said the meeting expressed wonder at the contradictory statements by the ISPR. “The statement of the Serbian Defense Minister and the statement of the ISPR are not consistent, causing confusion among people.” The BNP policymakers urged the government to make public the real information in this regard. Besides, the meeting denounced the government’s move to increase the prices of WASA’s water and 53 medicines. Referring to different comments of Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal, Fakhrul said,”He (CEC) has now become a laughing stock.” He said it has been proven over the last 10 years that a fair and credible election is not possible under Awami League and any partisan government. “The government must restore the caretaker government system for ensuring an acceptable election and overcoming the crisis.”