North Korea said it tested a “submarine nuclear weapons system” in response to joint naval drills by Washington, Seoul and Tokyo involving a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier.
What’s going on in North Korea
According to reports from the North Korean Ministry of Defense – as always reported by the state news agency Kcna – the exercises “seriously threatened the security” of the country, and so Pyongyang responded by “conducting a major test of the Haeil-5-23 submarine nuclear weapons system under development in the East Korean Sea.” The tests were carried out on the east coast of the peninsula.
North Korea has stepped up its military operations since the beginning of the year, including announcements of new solid-fueled intermediate-range ballistic missiles and exercises along its maritime border with South Korea in the first week of January. Kim Jong Un himself has become increasingly aggressive in his rhetoric. The United States, South Korea and Japan have conducted more exercises than before in 2023 as a deterrent response to North Korea’s escalating military actions, which include multiple tests of its nuclear ballistic missiles and new weapons launches.
Kim has repeatedly said his regime is building a military arsenal in preparation for a war that “could break out at any time” on the peninsula. The two Koreas are technically still in conflict since the war in 1953, which was followed only by an armistice. It was the bloodiest conflict of the Cold War. The two countries are separated by a militarized border (the most militarized border in the world) along the 38th parallel. The division between them still causes many tensions internationally today, especially since Pyongyang officially armed itself with nuclear weapons in 2006.
Pyongyang recently declared that its goal of reunification with South Korea had been “met” while citing fundamental political changes in its attitude towards South Korea. Seoul is seen as the “main enemy”.
This rhetoric follows some alleged advances in Pyongyang’s military and nuclear capabilities, including submarine operations. In September 2023, North Korea announced what it claimed was its first submarine capable of launching nuclear weapons. It also claims that since March 2023, the Haeil system (unmanned nuclear-armed underwater drones) has been tested. Haeil means “tsunami” in Korean.
Experts: “They are not a significant threat”
Not much is actually known about these weapons or their alleged performance, but North Korean media have described them as capable of penetrating enemy waters and causing devastating underwater explosions. According to Western experts, even if the weapons worked as the regime proposes, they would be a far less important and potentially destructive weapon than the regime’s nuclear ballistic missiles. “Given the scientific level of North Korea’s defense and the fact that the weapon is still being developed, it is not yet at a stage where it poses a significant threat,” he told the news agency. AFP Refugee Ahn Chan-il, a researcher at the World Institute for North Korean Studies, told the AFP news agency:
At the end of 2023, Pyongyang announced that it had successfully launched a spy satellite into space and would soon send three more into orbit. It is not possible to independently verify whether the satellite is actually working. South Korea claims that aid from Russia, which received weapons from the North in exchange for its war in Ukraine, was decisive. Kim held meetings with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu last year. A few days ago, the North Korean Foreign Minister was also in Moscow.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
