(3rd LD) N. Korea conducted another test of underwater nuclear-capable attack drone this week

(ATTN: UPDATES with weapon analysis, more details in paras 9, 11-15)

SEOUL, April 8 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Saturday it carried out another test of an underwater nuclear-capable attack drone this week, proving the weapon system's reliability and "fatal" striking capability.

The North tested the Haeil-2 underwater strategic weapon system from April 4-7, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"The system will serve as an advantageous and prospective military potential of the armed forces of the DPRK essential for containing all evolving military actions of enemies, removing threats and defending the country," the KCNA said in an English-language dispatch.

DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The North's provocation came as the secretive regime has vowed to take "overwhelming" actions against joint military drills between South Korea and the United States.

The test drone was deployed from a port in South Hamgyong Province on Tuesday, and "correctly set off" a test warhead underwater Friday after cruising along an "oval and eight-shaped" course simulating a distance of 1,000 kilometers for 71 hours and six minutes, it added.

The provocation came about two weeks after the North first made public a test of its underwater attack drone Haeil on March 24. It claimed the "secret weapon" is capable of generating a "radioactive tsunami" and stealthily attacking enemies.

On March 28, the regime unveiled its Hwasan-31 tactical nuclear warhead for the first time and claimed that it had staged an underwater detonation test of its Haeil-1 drone a day earlier.

The North said at the time the Haeil-1 traveled a course simulating a distance of 600 kilometers for 41 hours and 27 minutes before setting off its test warhead.

Considering the change in the weapon's name in the latest test, the North could have tested an improved version of the Haeil this week, observers said.

Some experts, however, have noted Pyongyang's unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) system offers little to bolster its military capabilities, compared with other weapons.

Vann H. Van Diepen, former U.S. principal deputy assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, said the Haeil would be "substantially inferior" to the North's nuclear-armed ballistic and cruise missiles in terms of accuracy and lethality.

"Its range limits it to coastal targets in South Korea and southeast Japan. Although this means it would not be subject to allied air and missile defenses, it would still be vulnerable to engagement by anti-submarine warfare assets," Van Diepen wrote Thursday in a report on 38 North, a U.S. website monitoring North Korea.

"North Korea claimed this weapon could attack 'naval striker groups,' but it is too slow to pose a viable threat to ships that are underway and thus probably limited to attacking ports and known anchorages," he said. "The UUV would appear to have much more political than military utility."

The North has recently intensified its provocative acts, such as the unveiling of the Hwasan-31 and the launch of cruise missiles from a submarine, in response to springtime military drills between South Korea and the United States.

Observers said the North is likely to bolster its weapons tests on key anniversaries this month, namely the 111th birthday of late North Korean founder Kim Il-sung on April 15.

sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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