<\/p>\n
North Korea said on Friday that it had tested an \u201cunderwater nuclear weapon system\u201d in response to joint naval exercises by Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo that involved a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.<\/p>\n
The drills were \u201cseriously threatening the security\u201d of the North, so in response, Pyongyang \u201cconducted an important test of its underwater nuclear weapon system \u2018Haeil-5-23\u2019 under development in the East Sea of Korea,\u201d according to a statement from the defence ministry carried by state news agency KCNA.<\/p>\n
Early last year, Pyongyang said it had carried out<\/a> multiple tests of a purported underwater nuclear attack drone \u2014 a different version of the Haeil, which means tsunami in Korean \u2014 claiming it could unleash a \u201cradioactive tsunami\u201d.<\/p>\n Analysts have questioned whether Pyongyang has such a weapon.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, South Korea, the United States, and Japan carried out joint naval drills in waters off southern Jeju Island, which they said were in response to North Korea\u2019s Sunday launch of a hypersonic missile.<\/p>\n The drills involved nine warships from the three countries, including the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.<\/p>\n Pyongyang on Friday said the drills \u201cconstituted a cause of further destabilising the regional situation, and they are an act of seriously threatening the security\u201d of the North, the defence ministry spokesman said, according to KCNA.<\/p>\n North Korea\u2019s own test \u2014 the exact date of which was not given \u2014 ensured \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 maneuvers of the navies of the US and its allies,\u201d the spokesman said.<\/p>\n Recent months have seen a sharp deterioration in long-tense ties between the two Koreas, with both sides jettisoning key tension-reducing agreements, ramping up frontier security, and conducting live-fire drills along the border.<\/p>\n North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week declared the South his country\u2019s \u201cprincipal enemy\u201d, jettisoned agencies dedicated to reunification and outreach and threatened war over \u201ceven 0.001 mm\u201d of territorial infringement.<\/p>\n The new announcement on the underwater test \u201cis a clear sign of Haeil drones deployment to its navy fleets for use\u201d, said Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.<\/p>\n \u201cThe North\u2019s statement illustrates Pyongyang\u2019s stance that it will respond in proportion to military exercise by the South, Japan, and the US,\u201d he said, adding that the North didn\u2019t appear to be trying \u201cto cross the line so as to provoke an armed conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, told AFP<\/em> that it was \u201cdifficult to determine the exact capabilities\u201d of North Korea\u2019s purported underwater nuclear weapons systems.<\/p>\n \u201cConsidering North Korea\u2019s defence science level and the fact that the weapon is still in a developing stage, it is not yet at a stage to pose a significant threat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n At Pyongyang\u2019s year-end policy meetings, Kim threatened<\/a> a nuclear attack on the South and called for a build-up of his country\u2019s military arsenal ahead of armed conflict he warned could \u201cbreak out any time\u201d.<\/p>\nDrones deployed?<\/h2>\n