A photo published by the Korean News Agency of Kim Jong Un witnessing the test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (French - Archive)
Pyongyang announced on Friday that it had tested an "underwater nuclear weapons system" in response to joint naval exercises conducted by Washington, Seoul and Tokyo this week, according to North Korea's official news agency.
The North Korean Ministry of Defense said, in a statement carried by the agency, that these exercises “seriously threatened the security” of North Korea.
In response, Pyongyang conducted "an important test on its Hail-5-23 underwater nuclear weapons system under development," the ministry added.
Tensions are rising on the Korean Peninsula, amid a series of missile tests, and Pyongyang's attempt to abandon a decades-long policy and change the pattern of its relationship with its southern neighbor.
Last Tuesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for changing South Korea's status in his country's constitution to a separate and hostile state, and warned that Pyongyang does not seek war, but does not rule out this option.
While South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol criticized the move, and pledged to respond to Pyongyang's provocations in a doubly manner.
Relations between the two Koreas have been deteriorating since Kim's commitment to strengthening his country's status as a nuclear power, and Pyongyang's resumption of its advanced intercontinental ballistic missile tests.
Pyongyang does not declare the size of its nuclear warheads or ballistic missiles, nor is this type of weapon included in statistics on the military strength of countries that are usually prepared by unofficial bodies.
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies