North Korea tested an underwater attack drone capable of generating a “super-scale radioactive tsunami” that would destroy enemy naval striker groups and ports, the regime’s official mouthpiece said on Friday.
KCNA said the drone was deployed off the coast of Riwon County in South Hamgyong province on Tuesday and reached the target point in the waters off Hongwon Bay, set as a mock enemy port on Thursday.
According to the report, the nuclear-capable drone cruised underwater at a depth of 80 to 150 meters (262 to 492 feet) in the East Sea of Korea for 59 hours and 12 minutes before detonating underwater on Thursday.
The drone is designed to “stealthily infiltrate into operational waters and make a super-scale radioactive tsunami through underwater explosion to destroy naval striker groups and major operational ports of the enemy,” it stated.
Strategic Cruise Missile Launches
North Korea also test-fired four strategic cruise missiles “tipped with a test warhead simulating a nuclear warhead” on March 22, according to KCNA.The missiles were launched from the South Hamgyong province and flew 1,500 kilometers to 1,800 kilometers (932 to 1,118 miles) for 7,557 to 7,567 seconds and 9,118 to 9,129 seconds, respectively, it stated.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed to make the United States and South Korea realize that they “are bound to lose more than they get and face a greater threat” over their “expansion of war drills in the region,” KCNA reported.
South Korea detected North Korea’s “multiple” missile launches at around 10.15 a.m. (local time) but did not elaborate.
South Korea and the United States staged air drills over the Korean Peninsula on March 19, featuring South Korean F-35A stealth fighters and U.S. B-1B strategic bombers.
Hwasong-17 ICBM Launch
On March 16, North Korea launched its largest Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in retaliation for the Freedom Shield exercises.The ICBM was launched hours before South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol flew to Japan for a summit that discussed ways to counter the nuclear-armed North.
Photos released by North Korea’s state media showed Kim watching the ICBM launch with his daughter and included pictures from space, apparently shot by a camera mounted on the missile.
KCNA said the missile was launched from Pyongyang’s airport, and traveled up to a maximum altitude of 6,045 kilometers (3,756 miles), and flew a distance of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) for 69 minutes before falling into the open sea.
The Hwasong-17 is known to be North Korea’s largest ICBM, estimated to have a range of over 13,000 kilometers (8,078 miles), making it capable of striking any location in the continental United States.
The United States has persisted in engaging in “direct talks” with North Korea without preconditions in favor of a diplomatic solution, but North Korea has rebuffed these efforts.
