North Korea tested a new underwater nuclear attack drone this week in response to US-South Korean military exercises, North Korea’s state-run news agency KCNA said on Friday.
From Tuesday to Thursday, the North Korean army was stationed off South Hamgyong province and tested this new weapon system, whose task, according to KCNA, is to “create a large radioactive tsunami” through an underwater explosion and destroy enemy ships and ports received in Seoul.
“This underwater nuclear attack drone can be deployed on any coast or port and towed by a surface vessel,” KCNA reported. At the time of the underwater explosion, the drone had sailed at a depth of 80-150 meters for 59 hours and 12 minutes.
Two ICBM tests this year
The Northern Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party initiated the tests “to warn the enemy of a real nuclear crisis and to check the reliability of the nuclear self-defense forces”.
North Korea fired several cruise missiles on Wednesday, according to the South Korean army, which is currently conducting large-scale joint exercises with the United States.
North Korea sees all of these drills as rehearsals for an invasion of its territory and has repeatedly warned it will respond “massively.”
The new launches and tests come about a week after Pyongyang fired its most powerful missile, the Hwasong-17, its second ICBM test in 2023.