SEOUL, March 24 (Portal) – North Korea has tested a new nuclear-capable underwater attack drone capable of generating a radioactive tsunami, state media reported on Friday, as it blamed joint South Korea-US military exercises for raising tensions in the US made region.
During the exercise, the new North Korean drone cruised underwater at a depth of 80 to 150 meters (260 to 500 feet) for over 59 hours and detonated in waters off the east coast on Thursday, North Korea’s state news agency KCNA said.
Dubbed “Haeil,” or Tsunami, the drone system is designed to conduct sneak attacks in enemy waters and destroy naval forces and key operational ports by generating a super-scale radioactive wave through an underwater explosion, according to KCNA.
“This nuclear underwater attack drone can be deployed to any coast and port, or towed by a surface vessel for operations,” the news agency said, adding the test was overseen by leader Kim Jong Un.
It is unclear whether North Korea has fully developed miniaturized nuclear warheads needed to fit on its smaller weapons.
Analysts say perfecting smaller warheads would most likely be a key goal when the North resumes nuclear testing.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said Pyongyang’s recent claim of having a nuclear-capable underwater drone “should be viewed with skepticism”.
“But it is intended to show unequivocally that the Kim regime has so many different means of nuclear attack at its disposal that any pre-emptive or decapitation strike against it would fail catastrophically,” he said.
CRUISE ROCKETS
KCNA also confirmed that the North fired cruise missiles on Wednesday to practice conducting tactical nuclear strike missions, confirming earlier reports by the South Korean military.
The cruise missiles were fitted with a “test warhead simulating a nuclear warhead” and flew 1,500 to 1,800 km (930 to 1,120 miles), according to KCNA.
The drill verified the reliability of its controllers and detonators in an airborne explosion and served as a demonstration of another military offensive capability, KCNA added.
The North said the recent weapons tests and drills have not had any negative impact on the security of neighboring countries.
The latest tests came as South Korean and US troops on Monday launched their largest amphibious landing drills in years involving a US amphibious assault ship.
North Korea said the US and South Korea are pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula to an “irreversibly dangerous point” with their drills and that such moves will require its armed forces “to prepare for full-scale war and strengthen its nuclear forces.” both in quality and quantity.”
The US ship USS Makin Island docked at a naval base in South Korea’s southeastern port city of Busan on Wednesday, carrying 10 F-35 stealth fighters.
Pyongyang has long balked at the exercises conducted by South Korean and US forces, saying they are preparing to invade the north.
South Korea and the US say the exercises are purely defensive and have criticized the tests as destabilizing and in violation of UN sanctions.
The Allies completed 11 days of their regular spring drills called Freedom Shield 23 on Thursday, but they have other field training drills that will continue.
Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi and Ju-min Park; Edited by Cynthia Osterman and Lincoln Feast
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