The South Korean military has suggested that North Korea has exaggerated claims that it has tested an underwater nuclear attack using an unmanned aerial vehicle.
The Army has indicated that the development of these aircraft appears to be at an early stage.
On Monday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff released an assessment of North Korea’s new weapons amid growing concerns about South Korea’s adequacy and the readiness of the United States to counter emerging threats from North Korea’s new weapons systems.
Last week, North Korean state media reported that Pyongyang had tested a weapon capable of causing a “radioactive tsunami” and that the drone had been submerged at depths of 80 to 150 meters in the East Sea for 59 hours and 12 minutes.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement: “After compiling a US-South Korean analysis of the ‘unmanned missile with an atomic bomb’, as well as expert opinions about it, our military is weighing the possibility that this claim is exaggerated or fabricated.”
She added: “There is evidence indicating that the North has been working on the development of an underwater drone, but we estimate that it is still in the early stages of development.”
The Joint Chiefs of Staff stressed that South Korea and the United States will closely monitor various threats from the north and maintain a strong joint defense.
And North Korea said the drone is designed to penetrate operational waters and cause a large-scale “radioactive tsunami” to destroy enemy naval strike groups and main ports, and can also be deployed on any coast and in any port, or towed by a surface ship.
Source: “Yonhap”