Pyongyang guarantees to discourage ‘hostile military manoeuvres’ after naval workouts between US, South Korea and Japan.
North Korea has examined a nuclear-capable underwater assault drone in response to joint naval workouts involving South Korea, america and Japan, state media has stated.
Pyongyang examined the “Haeil-5-23″ in waters off the east coast as the US and its allies were “seriously threatening the security” of the nation “destabilising the regional situation”, North Korea’s defence ministry stated in an announcement carried by the Korean Central Information Company (KCNA) on Friday.
“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 manoeuvres of the navies of the US and its allies,” the assertion stated, warning of “catastrophic consequences” for the US and its “followers.”
North Korea final yr claimed to have examined the drone twice, touting its means to hold out sneak assaults and destroy enemies with a “radioactive tsunami” generated by an underwater explosion.
The weapon’s operation has not been independently verified and South Korean officers have stated its capabilities are exaggerated.
Washington, Seoul and Tokyo earlier this week performed joint naval drills involving 9 warships, together with the plane provider USS Carl Vinson, off South Korea’s south coast.
The allies introduced the drills after Pyongyang stated on Sunday it had examined a brand new solid-fuel missile fitted with a hypersonic warhead.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been elevated in latest months amid Pyongyang’s repeated weapons checks and strikes by authoritarian chief Kim Jong Un to roll again efforts in the direction of reconciliation with South Korea.
On Tuesday, state media reported that Kim had ordered the closure of a number of authorities our bodies devoted to inter-Korean rapprochement after figuring out that reunification was not doable.
On Thursday, the nuclear envoys of the US, South Korea and Japan gathered in Seoul to sentence Pyongyang’s weapons checks and its commerce in armaments with Russia.
