N. Korea claims another test of 'nuclear underwater drone'

North Korea's state news agency on Saturday said that Pyongyang had conducted the second test in a few weeks of what it says is a new nuclear-capable underwater explosive drone. .

"A national defense science research institute in the DPRK carried out a test of underwater strategic weapon system from April 4 to 7," the Korean Central News Agency said, using the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's official acronym, DPRK.

"The underwater nuclear attack drone 'Haeil-2' cruised 1,000 km of simulated underwater distance. The test warhead accurately detonated underwater. The test perfectly proved the reliability of the underwater strategic weapon system and its fatal attack ability," it added.

Second such test advertised in a few weeks

Last month, Pyongyang claimed it had tested an underwater nuclear attack drone that could unleash a "radioactive tsunami."

Haeil means tsunami in Korean. KCNA said the first test, conducted as recently as late March, was of the Haeil-1, implying an upgraded model. 

The specific claims about the capabilities of the underwater vehicle and its readiness for use from North Korean propaganda outlets have been met with skepticism, however.

South Korea's military said it believed the claims about Haeil-1 were "likely exaggerated or fabricated." Nevertheless observers said Pyongyang's repeated efforts to communicate the tests suggested it was pleased with the technology.

"While the North could have exaggerated the degree of success to some extent, they appear to show Pyongyang's underlying confidence in this technology, some of which could have been transferred from Russia," Choi Gi-il, professor of military studies at Sangji University in South Korea, told AFP.

North Korea blames US drills, despite more than a year's heightened activity

The US and South Korea kicked off in March a series of annual springtime drills, including their first large-scale amphibious landing drills in five years. Exercises were scaled down dramatically amid the COVID pandemic. 

Earlier this week, they staged joint air drills involving at least one US nuclear-capable B-52H strategic bomber,

North Korea was highly critical of the drills, describing them as a rehearsal for invasion.

But Pyongyang has been expanding its military testing regiment for well over a year now, since long before the latest drills. Its test frequency does continue to accelerate, though.

In 2022, Pyongyang fired more than 70 missiles. That was a single-year record, but it's one the country might eclipse in 2023 going at the current rate. This year, North Korea has fired at least 20 ballistic and cruise missiles over 10 different launch events.

In recent weeks, it unveiled new, smaller nuclear warheads and fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that appeared capable (based on the distance it covered on a high-arching trajectory) of striking the continental United States.

A US-based think tank focused on Korea, 38 North, also recently said satellite imagery had indicated a high level of activity at North Korea's main nuclear complex after leader Kim Jong Un ordered that production of weapons-grade nuclear material be ramped up.

tg/msh (AFP, Reuters)