NORTH Korea has claimed it has tested a new underwater nuclear attack drone designed to unleash a “radioactive tsunami” as Kim Jong-un promises to “plunge rivals into desperation.”
The North’s state news agency KCNA also confirmed that it had been fired cruise missiles during the weapons test and target practice that took place from Tuesday to Thursday.
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During the exercise, the North Korean Drone sailed underwater for more than 59 hours and exploded in waters off the East Coast on Thursday, according to KCNA.
The “secret weapon” was thrown into water near South Hamgyon county on Tuesday and detonated a test warhead on Thursday, the agency said.
It did not address the drone’s nuclear capabilities.
The drone system, dubbed “Haeil,” or tsunami, is intended to launch sneak attacks into enemy waters and destroy naval strike groups and major operational ports by creating a supersized radioactive wave through an underwater explosion, the KCNA said.
“This drone for nuclear underwater strikes can be deployed on any coast and port or towed by a surface ship for operations,” the news agency said, adding that the test was overseen by leader Kim Jong Un.
It’s unclear if North Korea has fully developed the miniaturized warheads needed to fit its smaller weapons.
North Korea intensified its weapons demonstrations this month in a tit-for-tat response to the United Statesexpand military exercises with ally South Korea aimed at counteracting the North’s growing nuclear threat.
Analysts say perfecting smaller warheads would most likely be a major goal if the North resumed nuclear testing.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said Pyongyang’s latest claim of an underwater drone with nuclear capability “must be met with skepticism”.
“But it’s clearly meant to show that the Kim regime has so many different nuclear strike assets that any preemptive or decapitation strike would fail disastrously,” he said.
In a separate firing exercise, North Korea also confirmed it fired four cruise missiles on Wednesday to practice conducting tactical nuclear strike missions.
The missiles were tipped with a “test warhead simulating a nuclear warhead” and flew 1,500 to 1,800 kilometers, it added.
North Korea fired four cruise missiles off its east coast on Wednesday, according to the South Korean military.
KCNA said on Wednesday that the North fired strategic cruise missiles “with a test warhead that simulates a warhead.”
KCNA said that two Hwasal-1-type strategic cruise missiles and two Hwasal-2-type strategic cruise missiles launched in South Hamgyong province accurately hit the target in the Baltic Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.
Kim allegedly oversaw the three-day exercise, which simulated nuclear counterattacks against enemy naval assets and ports, detonating fake nuclear warheads, according to KCNA.
‘NUCLEAR CRISIS’
KCNA added that the exercises were designed to warn the US and South Korea of an impending “nuclear crisis” as they continue their “deliberate, sustained and provocative war exercises,” which the North portrays as invasion rehearsals.
KCNA said Kim was satisfied with the three-day exercises and further issued unspecified “militant tasks” to counter his rivals’ “reckless military provocations,” indicating that the North would further step up its military actions.
Kim “expressed his will to plunge the US imperialists and the (South) Korean puppet regime into desperation” with strong demonstrations of his military nuclear program to make his rivals understand that “they will lose more than they get” with the expansion of their joint exercises.
It comes as Seoul and Washington continue their joint military exercises known as Freedom shield – their largest in five years – which launched on March 13.
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.
North Korea said the US and South Korea are driving the situation on the Korean peninsula to an “irreversible dangerous point” with their exercises, and that such moves would require their troops to “gird themselves for all-out war and bolster their nuclear power.” . priority in both quality and quantity.”
Pyongyang has long been angry at exercises by South Korean and US troops, who say 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 ended 11 days of their regular spring exercises on Thursday, but they are continuing other field exercises.
The North has fired more than 20 ballistic and cruise missiles more than 10 different launch events this year as it seeks to diversify its delivery systems and demonstrate a dual capability to launch nuclear strikes against both South Korea and mainland US.
North Korea has already had a record year in testing activity, with more than 70 missiles fired in 2022while Kim accelerated a campaign aimed at forcing the US to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and negotiate much-needed sanctions relief from a position of strength.
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