North Korea said Friday that it had tested an “underwater nuclear weapon system” in response to joint naval exercises by Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, which involved a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
The drills were “seriously threatening the security” of the North, so in response, Pyongyang “conducted an important test of its underwater nuclear weapon system ‘Haeil-5-23’ under development in the East Sea of Korea,” according to a statement from the defense ministry carried by state news agency KCNA.
The test was not of a nuclear device but rather of an “underwater self-explosive drone,” according to Shin Jong-woo, a military expert at the Seoul-based Korea Defense and Security Forum.
Shin called it a “navigation test for their battery-powered underwater suicide drone,” adding North Korea was testing how the drone would perform over long distances and long periods of time.
Shin noted North Korea tested the Haeil-2 Unmanned Underwater Nuclear Attack Boat between April 4 and 7 of last year.
In addition to the underwater system test were “various maritime and underwater responsive actions” to deter military actions by the U.S. and its allies, the statement said, adding “We strongly denounce the U.S. and its followers for their reckless acts.”
This latest test comes less than a week after North Korea said it had tested a solid-fuel intermediate-range missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead, The Associated Press reported.
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