North Korea: North Korea has claimed that it tested an “underwater nuclear weapons system.” The US, South Korea, and Japan are conducting drills this week.
According to state media, the test of its purportedly nuclear-armed underwater drones was conducted off its east coast.
Although the North has previously claimed to have tested its “Haeil-5-23” system, the weapons have never been independently confirmed. Allies and South Korea have not yet responded to the most recent provocation.
However, it coincides with the North’s recent escalation of military activity, which includes its launch of a brand-new intermediate-range ballistic missile powered by solid fuel. That came after the first week of live-fire exercises at the maritime border with South Korea.
In recent months, Pyongyang’s leader, Mr. Kim Jong Un, has also ended a number of agreements meant to maintain peace by adopting an increasingly assertive rhetorical and policy direction.
As reported by state agency KCNA on Friday, North Korea claimed that joint drills by Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo had provoked it to test its underwater weapons.
It claimed that the drills threatened the security of the North and were “further destabilising the regional situation.”
In an effort to deter North Korea’s military actions, which have become more frequent, the US, South Korea, and Japan claim to have increased their exercise levels over the past year. These actions include North Korea’s multiple nuclear ballistic missile tests and the launches of new weapons. UN sanctions are broken by all of these acts.
However, Mr. Kim has stated on numerous occasions that his government is stockpiling weapons in anticipation of a conflict that might “break out at any time” on the peninsula.
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