North Korea claimed Friday it had tested an underwater nuclear attack drone able to unleash a “radioactive tsunami”, as it blamed recent US-South Korea exercises for a deteriorating regional security situation.<\/p>\n
Pyongyang carried out drills in response this week, the official Korean Central News Agency said, including testing of the new underwater nuclear delivery system.<\/p>\n
“This nuclear underwater attack drone can be deployed at any coast and port or towed by a surface ship for operation,” the report said.<\/p>\n
The weapon’s mission is to “stealthily infiltrate into operational waters and make a super-scale radioactive tsunami … to destroy naval striker groups and major operational ports of the enemy,” it added.<\/p>\n
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally oversaw the tests, KCNA reported, and images released by Pyongyang’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed a smiling Kim and what appeared to be an underwater explosion.<\/p>\n
The agency also said Pyongyang had fired strategic cruise missiles “tipped with a test warhead simulating a nuclear warhead” on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
But analysts questioned North Korea’s claims.<\/p>\n
The idea that Pyongyang has “a nuclear-capable underwater drone should be met with skepticism,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.<\/p>\n