SEOUL: North Korea has tested the latest nuclear-capable underwater attack drone, state media reported on Friday, as leader Kim Jong Un warned joint military exercises by South Korea and the United States (US) should stop.
New drone cruised underwater
During the test, the new drone cruised underwater at a depth of 80 to 150 metres for over 59 hours and detonated a non-nuclear payload in waters off its east coast on Thursday, North Korean state news agency KCNA said.
Analysts said North Korea was showing off its increasingly diverse nuclear threats to Washington and Seoul, though they are skeptical about whether the underwater vehicle is ready for deployment.
North Korea intends to signal “to the US and South Korea that in a war, the potential vectors of nuclear weapons delivery the allies would have to fear about and target would be vast,” said Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
He said, “There would be silos, railcars, submarines, and road-mobile missile launchers. And now they are adding this underwater torpedo to the mix,”
On Monday, the isolated country flew the short-range missile from a buried silo, a departure from usual basing methods.
Dubbed “Haeil”, or tsunami, the latest drone system is intended to make sneak attacks in enemy waters and destroy naval strike groups and main operational ports by creating a large radioactive wave through an underwater explosion, the KCNA said.
“This underwater nuclear attack drone can be deployed at any coast and port and towed by a surface ship for operation,” the news agency said, adding that Kim oversaw the test.
An South Korean military official said that they were analysing North Korea’s claims. A US official, speaking anonymously, said there was no indication of a nuclear test.
