Hardly a week goes by without North Korea making an announcement about military innovations. On Friday, January 19, Pyongyang claimed to have “conducted a major test of its developing Haeil-5-23 submarine nuclear weapons system in Korea's East Sea,” referring to an area also under known by the name Sea of Japan.
The test was conducted in response to joint naval exercises conducted by the United States, South Korea and Japan south of South Korea's Jeju Island earlier this week. Nine ships from the three countries, including the American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Carl-Vinson, took part in the exercises, which were in response to Pyongyang's launch of a ballistic missile on Sunday.
According to a statement from North Korea's Defense Ministry, cited by state agency KCNA, these trilateral exercises “posed a serious threat to the security” of the North and “constituted a cause for further destabilization of the regional situation.”
The test announced on Friday, the exact date of which was not given, makes it possible to “further strengthen the underwater counterattack system based on our army's nuclear weapons,” the Defense Ministry spokesman emphasized, reiterating that Pyongyang has various naval and submarine weapons. Attacks would “continue to deter hostile military maneuvers by the U.S. Navy and its allies.”
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Doubts about Pyongyang's nuclear capabilities
Recent months have seen a drastic deterioration in long-strained relations between the two Koreas. Both sides abandoned key agreements aimed at reducing tensions, strengthening border security and conducting live-fire exercises along the border. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recently called the South his “main enemy” and threatened Seoul with war for any violation of “even 0.001 mm” of North Korean territory.
Last year, Pyongyang claimed to have conducted several tests of a so-called underwater nuclear attack drone – another version of the Haeil, which means “tsunami” in Korean – and claimed the weapon could trigger “a radioactive tsunami.”
Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher head of the Global Institute for North Korea Studies, said it was “difficult to determine the exact capabilities” of North Korea's alleged underwater nuclear weapons systems. “Given North Korea's scientific level of defense and the fact that the weapon is still in the development stage, it is not yet capable of posing a significant threat,” he told Agence France-Presse.
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At the end of 2023, Kim Jong-un again threatened nuclear strikes against Seoul and ordered the acceleration of military preparations for a “war” that “can be started at any time on the peninsula.” Pyongyang announced on Sunday that it had fired a ballistic missile with a maneuverable hypersonic warhead, days after conducting live artillery exercises on its west coast near South Korean islands whose civilians were called to protect them.
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After two consecutive failures in May and June, North Korea successfully launched its first military observation satellite into orbit in November after receiving Russian aid in exchange for weapons for the war in Ukraine, according to Seoul.