North Korean state television has aired previous atmospheric explosion tests, which have been monitored by US and South Korean authorities, but the reported underwater weapon has not been independently verified.
Later on Friday, South Korea’s defence ministry issued a warning against the North’s recent series of weapons tests, calling for an immediate halt.
“Our military is thoroughly prepared for North Korea’s provocations under a solid joint defence posture with the United States,” it said in a statement, vowing “overwhelming” responses if North Korea stages a direct provocation.
Japan’s foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa, when asked about the North’s latest test at a news conference, declined to comment on “each and every one of those activities” but pledged continued efforts to curb its weapons development.
Dubbed “Haeil”, which means tsunami, the new drone system was first reportedly tested in March 2023, and state media said it was intended to make sneak attacks in enemy waters and destroy naval strike groups and major operational ports by creating a large radioactive wave through an underwater explosion.
The latest reported underwater test came days after North Korea fired a new intermediate-range, solid-fuel hypersonic missile, which Washington, Seoul and Tokyo condemned as a serious violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
The three allies’ nuclear envoys gathered in Seoul on Thursday, also condemning Pyongyang’s arms trade with Russia and increasingly hostile rhetoric, just as North Korea’s foreign minister visited Moscow and met with President Vladimir Putin.
