North Korea is boasting that its new intercontinental ballistic missile 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. The ICBM launched Thursday flew higher and for a longer duration than any other weapon North Korea has tested. But foreign experts still doubt North Korea has functional missiles that can carry warheads to the U.S. mainland. North Korea on Friday identified the missile as a Hwasong-19 and called it "the world's strongest strategic missile" and "the perfected weapon system." But experts say the ICBM and its launch vehicle are oversized. That would make them harder to move and easier for enemies to see.

North Korean state media says Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in the country on Tuesday for a two-day visit. Putin's first trip to the country in 24 years comes amid international concerns about the two countries' expanding military cooperation. Putin is expected to meet the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for talks as they deepen their alignment in the face of separate, intensifying confrontations with Washington. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said Putin will visit the North on Tuesday and Wednesday at the invitation of Kim. North Korean state media didn't immediately provide more details. Russia confirmed the visit in a simultaneous announcement. Putin also will visit Vietnam.

South Korea's military says it's detecting signs that North Korea is installing its own loudspeakers along their border, a day after the South blared anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts over its speakers for the first time in years. South Korea said its loudspeaker broadcast on Sunday was in retaliation for the North sending over 1,000 balloons filled with trash and manure over the last couple of weeks. North Korea has described its balloon campaign as a tit-for-tat against South Korean civilian groups flying anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets across the border.