SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea has conducted another test of a nuclear-capable underwater attack drone, its state media reported on Saturday, the latest demonstration of its military capabilities as it faces off against the United States and South Korea.
North Korea tested a nuclear-capable unmanned underwater attack weapon called “Haeil-2” from April 4 to April 7, state media reported, more than a week after it disclosed a new underwater drone called “Haeil-1”, which translates as tsunami.
The North’s KCNA state news agency said that during the underwater strategic weapon system test the drone cruised 1,000 km (621 miles) for 71 hours and 6 minutes and successfully hit a simulated target.
“The test perfectly proved the reliability of the underwater strategic weapon system and its fatal attack ability,” KCNA said.
Photographs released by state media showed a large, dark-colored torpedo-shaped object as well as tracks of the object’s underwater trajectory and blast visible on the surface of the sea.
North Korea has been regularly testing various weapons for months and ramped up its activity in recent weeks in response to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises.
Pyongyang views the war games as potential rehearsals for the invasion of its territory.
In recent weeks, it has unveiled new, smaller nuclear warheads and fired an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking anywhere in the United States.
On March 23, North Korea said it had tested its first underwater nuclear attack drone, and hailed that the weapon was capable of inflicting substantial damage on enemy targets.
According to the KCNA, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had personally overseen the test.
“This nuclear underwater attack drone can be deployed at any coast and port or towed by a surface ship for operation,” the report said at the time.
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.
Ahead of the test, Kim urged the enhancement of the country’s nuclear force’s capability to the level of becoming ready for an actual “attack” against the enemy.