North Korea claims to have tested a submarine drone capable of releasing a "radioactive tsunami." Tuesday saw the placement of the "secret weapon" in the waters off South Hamgyong province, according to sources. According to the report, it sailed for over 59 hours at a depth of 80 to 150 meters before being detonated off the country's eastern coast.
However, experts advise caution on North Korea's assertion about the capabilities of the new weapon. As the United States and South Korea concluded the largest joint field exercises in five years, tensions on the Korean peninsula have been on the rise.
President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea stated on Friday that he would "ensure that North Korea pays the price for its reckless provocations." The weapon, dubbed "Haeil" (Korean for tsunami) is designed to attack enemy vessels and ports by releasing a "super-scale" radioactive wave, according to Korean sources. "This nuclear submarine attack drone can be deployed at any coast or port, or towed by a surface ship for operation," the document continues.
Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, oversaw this exercise and stated that it should serve as a warning to the United States and South Korea that the DPRK's infinite nuclear war deterrent capacity is being expedited. The most recent North Korean weapon appears to be modeled after Russian Poseidon torpedoes, which are rumored to be capable of causing radioactive ocean swells and nuclear tsunamis that could destroy the U.S. coastal cities. However, Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, stated that Pyongyang's most recent claim should be viewed with skepticism.
It is intended to demonstrate that the Kim regime has so many nuclear attack options that any preemptive or decapitation strike would fail catastrophically, he said. A nuclear weapons specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Ankit Panda, said that he intended to take North Korea seriously. However he can not rule out the possibility that this is an attempt at deception.
Mr Yoon mentioned that North Korea is progressing its nuclear weapons each day. They are carrying out acts of aggression with an unprecedented intensity. He made these remarks at a ceremony commemorating West Sea Defence Day. It is an annual holiday honoring the soldiers who died defending the Northern Limit Line, a contested maritime border between the Koreas.
The North fired strategic cruise missiles on Wednesday that were placed with a test warhead simulating a nuclear warhead. On Thursday, Pyongyang conducted an intercontinental ballistic missile test just hours before historic meetings between the presidents of South Korea and Japan. North Korea launched more than 90 missiles in 2022, the most it has ever shot in a single year, despite being subject to a variety of sanctions from the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and its neighbors. North Korea's nuclear policy has become more aggressive under Kim Jong Un, who has supervised much of the country's recent weapons development and four of its six nuclear tests so far.
