AFP - SEOUL, April 8 - In its latest reaction to military drills by South Korea and the United States, North Korea said on Saturday that it has tested yet another underwater nuclear attack drone. However, many have questioned whether Pyongyang actually has such a weapon.
North Korea recently conducted tests of an underwater nuclear-capable drone and an intercontinental ballistic missile launch, according to official media.
From April 4 to 7, a test of an undersea strategic weapon system was conducted in the DPRK, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
The "Haeil-2" underwater nuclear attack drone "cruised" for 71 hours and 6 minutes across a simulated distance of 1,000 kilometers.
The test warhead accurately detonated underwater, according to KCNA. The test successfully demonstrated the undersea strategic weapon system's dependability and its capacity for lethal strike.
In less than three weeks, North Korea claims to have already completed three underwater drone tests.
It claimed to have performed the first test of the Haeil, which means "tsunami" in Korean, on March 23 and blamed US-South Korea drills for a deteriorating regional security situation. Haeil is capable of unleashing a "radioactive tsunami."
It said that a second test had been conducted five days later.
In response, Seoul was "capable of monitoring and detecting such drones infiltrating underwater," South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup said MPs.
A high level of activity has also been seen in satellite images of North Korea's main nuclear facility after Kim Jong Un's directive to increase the manufacture of nuclear material fit for use in weapons.
Kim has called for a "exponential" expansion in weapon manufacturing, including tactical nuclear weapons, and North Korea last year declared itself a "irreversible" nuclear power.
According to Seoul's military, South Korea and the US conducted joint air exercises on Wednesday that included at least one US B-52H strategic bomber with nuclear weapons capability.
North Korea responds to previous recent drills with a flurry of increasingly aggressive prohibited weapons because it sees such activities as invasion preparations.
Along with expanding its nuclear arsenal, North Korea is attempting to diversify its delivery systems.
Similar weapons, including nuclear-capable Poseidon torpedoes, have apparently also been created by Russia, but analysts claimed North Korea may still not be able to grasp the intricate technology needed for such weapons.
However, Choi Gi-il, a professor of military studies at Sangji University, told AFP that the North's assertions regarding the tests should not be "easily dismissed for being exaggerated".
"While the North may have overstated the degree of success to some extent, they seem to demonstrate Pyongyang's underlying confidence in this technology, some of which may have been imported from Russia," says the author.
The transmission of the underwater drone technology has not received any formal comments from Russia or North Korea, Choi continued.
No comments:
Post a Comment