North Korea claimed Friday it had examined an underwater nuclear assault drone in a position to unleash a “radioactive tsunami,” because it blamed latest US-South Korea workouts for a deteriorating regional safety scenario.
Pyongyang carried out drills in response this week, the official Korean Central News Agency stated, together with testing of the brand new underwater nuclear supply system.
“This nuclear underwater attack drone can be deployed at any coast and port or towed by a surface ship for operation,” the report stated.
The weapon’s mission is to “stealthily infiltrate into operational waters and make a super-scale radioactive tsunami … to destroy naval striker groups and major operational ports of the enemy,” it added.
North Korean chief Kim Jong Un personally oversaw the assessments, KCNA reported, and pictures launched by Pyongyang’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper confirmed a smiling Kim and what gave the impression to be an underwater explosion.
The company additionally stated Pyongyang had fired strategic cruise missiles “tipped with a test warhead simulating a nuclear warhead” on Wednesday.
But analysts questioned North Korea’s claims.
The concept that Pyongyang has “a nuclear-capable underwater drone should be met with skepticism,” stated Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.
“Pyongyang’s claims about a new weapons system are not the same as a credible demonstration of capability,” he added.
In a Twitter put up, US-based analyst Ankit Panda stated it couldn’t be dominated out that the announcement was “an attempt at deception/psyop.”
Even so, the declare was “shocking,” Cheong Seong-chang of the personal Sejong Institute informed AFP.
If true, it’s exhausting to see how Seoul “could respond to such a formidable new weapon from North Korea that (it says) can completely destroy the South’s major operational ports.”
The KCNA assertion additionally signifies “Pyongyang is more than ready to use its tactical nuclear weapons at any time,” An Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher, informed AFP.
“This obviously further strengthens Kim’s justification for his future nuclear tests.”
Nuclear energy?
After a record-breaking yr of weapons assessments and rising nuclear threats from Pyongyang in 2022, Seoul and Washington have ramped up safety cooperation.
On Thursday, the 2 allies accomplished their largest joint army drills in 5 years.
Pyongyang views all such workouts as rehearsals for invasion and has threatened “overwhelming” motion in response.
On Friday, KCNA described the US-South Korea joint workouts — dubbed Freedom Shield — as a drill for “occupying” North Korea.
Pyongyang’s “underwater nuclear attack drone” drill had been held “to alert the enemy to an actual nuclear crisis,” the company stated.
Leader Kim had additionally pressured that the North’s nuclear capabilities have been “being bolstered at a greater speed,” KCNA stated.
North Korea final yr declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear energy and Kim lately referred to as for an “exponential” improve in weapons manufacturing, together with tactical nuclear weapons.
Washington has repeatedly restated its “ironclad” dedication to defending South Korea, together with utilizing the “full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear”.
South Korea, for its half, is keen to reassure its more and more nervous public concerning the US dedication to so-called prolonged deterrence, the place US army belongings, together with nuclear weapons, serve to forestall assaults on allies.
Friday’s assertion comes a few week after Pyongyang test-fired its largest and strongest missile, a Hwasong-17 — its second ICBM check this yr. —Agence France-Presse
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
