SEOUL
\nNorth Korea has conducted a test of its underwater nuclear weapons system in a protest against this week\u2019s joint military drills by South Korea, the United States and Japan, state media KCNA said on Friday.
\nThe test of the \u201cHaeil-5-23\u201d system, a name North Korea has given to its nuclear-capable underwater attack drones, was carried out by the defence ministry\u2019s think tank in the waters off its east coast, the report said, without specifying a date.
\nThe ministry\u2019s unnamed spokesman accused the United States, South Korea and Japan of \u201cgetting frantic\u201d with military exercises, warning of \u201ccatastrophic consequences.\u201d
\nThe three countries\u2019 navies held their three-day regular drills until Wednesday, alongside the US aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, as part of efforts to improve their responses to Pyongyang\u2019s evolving nuclear and missile threats.
\n\u201cOur army\u2019s underwater nuke-based countering posture is being further rounded off and its various maritime and underwater responsive actions will continue to deter the hostile military manoeuvres of the navies of the US and its allies,\u201d the North Korean ministry spokesman said in a statement, according to KCNA.
\nNorth Korean state television has aired previous atmospheric explosion tests, which have been monitored by US and South Korean authorities, but the reported underwater weapon has not been independently verified.
\nLater on Friday, South Korea\u2019s defence ministry issued a warning against the North\u2019s recent series of weapons tests, calling for an immediate halt.
\n\u201cOur military is thoroughly prepared for North Korea\u2019s provocations under a solid joint defence posture with the United States,\u201d it said in a statement, vowing \u201coverwhelming\u201d responses if North Korea stages a direct provocation.
\nJapan\u2019s foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa, when asked about the North\u2019s latest test at a news conference, declined to comment on \u201ceach and every one of those activities\u201d but pledged continued efforts to curb its weapons development.
\nDubbed \u201cHaeil\u201d, which means tsunami, the new drone system was first reportedly tested in March 2023, and state media said it was intended to make sneak attacks in enemy waters and destroy naval strike groups and major operational ports by creating a large radioactive wave through an underwater explosion.
\nThe latest reported underwater test came days after North Korea fired a new intermediate-range, solid-fuel hypersonic missile, which Washington, Seoul and Tokyo condemned as a serious violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
\nThe three allies\u2019 nuclear envoys gathered in Seoul on Thursday, also condemning Pyongyang\u2019s arms trade with Russia and increasingly hostile rhetoric, just as North Korea\u2019s foreign minister visited Moscow and met with President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SEOUL North Korea has conducted a test of its underwater nuclear weapons system in a protest against this week\u2019s joint military drills by South Korea, the United States and Japan, state media KCNA said on Friday. The test of the \u201cHaeil-5-23\u201d system, a name North Korea has given to its nuclear-capable underwater attack drones, was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381866,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-381836","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n