North Korean officials claim they have tested an “underwater nuclear weapons system.”
North Korean State Media is claiming that the Country’s Military has conducted a Test of the “Haeil-5-23” Underwater-Nuclear Weapons System in the Sea of Japan, as a Response to a recent Trilateral-Naval Exercise between the United States, Japan, and South Korea which included… pic.twitter.com/itZjnu2aZR
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) January 19, 2024
According to Newsweek, the city of Pyongyang tested a “Haeil-5-23” weapon in the East Sea, sometimes called the Sea of Japan.
The nation claimed to have first tested the underwater nuclear weapon in early 2023 and referred to it as an “underwater nuclear attack drone.”
North Korea claimed that the Friday test was due to joint U.S., South Korea and Japan naval drills that were executed earlier this week.
These included three-day drills involving the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group. U.S. military officials stated that these were designed to “enhance combined readiness and capabilities and support a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
But officials in Pyongyang stated that they, “constituted a cause of further destabilizing the regional situation.”
According to a DPRK Press Statement, a spokesman for Ministry of National Defence stated, “We will never tolerate the reckless military confrontation hysteria.”
He alleged, “The U.S., Japan and the Republic of Korea are getting frantic in their provocative military exercises from the outset of the year.”
“In response to it, the Underwater Weapon System Institute under the DPRK Academy of Defense Science conducted an important test of its underwater nuclear weapon system “Haeil-5-23” under development in the East Sea of Korea.
“Our army’s 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 maneuvers of the navies of the U.S. and its allies,” he added.
The AP News reported that on Thursday South Korea urged the United Nations Security Council “to break the silence” regarding North Korea’s continued nuclear weapons tests.
South Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Hwang Joonkook stated, “The nuclear policy is highly, highly alarming.”
Since 2006, the U.N Security Council has imposed sanctions against North Korea and tightened them over time, but these have proved unsuccessful in deterring the nation’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.