According to Xinhua News Agency, the Korean Central News Agency disclosed that a spokesman for the DPRK Ministry of Defense recently said that the DPRK launched the "Tsunami-5-23" underwater nuclear weapons test in the waters east of the DPRK due to the joint maritime exercises conducted by the United States, Japan and South Korea against the DPRK. According to reports, the North Korean side is carrying out the verification of underwater weapon systems, not underwater nuclear explosions. The DPRK has not yet released specific information on the Tsunami-5-23, but last year it announced the progress of the test of the Tsunami and Tsunami-2 unmanned submersible attack boats. Among them, the Tsunami-2 has a travel time of 71 hours and a distance of 1,000 kilometers, and the development of the relevant unmanned submarine launch platform has strengthened the DPRK's ability to carry out nuclear counterattacks against the United States and South Korea.
In terms of underwater combat capabilities, the DPRK completed the test launch of a submarine-launched strategic cruise missile in March last year. The missile is launched under water by a submarine and flies at a distance of 1500 kilometers. In September last year, the first submarine capable of performing tactical nuclear attack missions was added to the ranks of the North Korean military.
In addition, North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons, unmanned aerial vehicles, rocket launches, and other related equipment that can be used to carry out tactical nuclear launches have also continued to develop. In November last year, the reconnaissance satellite was put into orbit, and it has the ability to accurately capture key targets of the United States and South Korea. The DPRK's series of armaments build-up is part of the spiral escalation of the situation of military confrontation on the Korean Peninsula. This is reflected in the fact that the United States continues to expand its conventional and nuclear forces on the Korean Peninsula with South Korea as an entry point.
The scale of the 2023 joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea has exceeded that of the past, and after Yoon Suk-yeol took office, he gave the green light to the THAAD system of the US military, posing a greater threat to the strategic security of North Korea and China. US strategic bombers, aircraft carriers, and nuclear submarines have accelerated their buildup on the Korean Peninsula, and its aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines docked at the port of Busan several times last year. The United States commemorated the anniversary of the Inchon landings on September 14 last year in a high-profile manner and attempted to conduct large-scale joint exercises in the Yellow Sea.
Under pressure from the United States, Yoon Suk-yeol unilaterally pushed for South Korean companies to compensate South Korean workers on behalf of Japan, dilute the territorial dispute between South Korea and Japan, and eliminate Japan's restrictions on South Korea's semiconductor supply chain. After the Camp David summit, the trilateral alliance mechanism between the United States, Japan and South Korea took shape, and the United States is integrating Japan and South Korea into the NATO framework to build NATO in Northeast Asia.
In December last year, the U.S.-South Korea nuclear consultation meeting confirmed that nuclear military exercises would be conducted against a combat background. At the turn of 2023 and 2024, the United States and South Korea will conduct a joint air exercise on New Year's Eve. From January 15 to 17, the main ships of the United States, Japan and South Korea conducted a joint naval exercise, and the number of participating ships reached nine, including the US aircraft carrier Carl Vinson. Against this backdrop, the DPRK is conducting a new nuclear weapons system verification and is in a-for-tat confrontation with the United States, Japan, and South Korea. The accelerated deterioration of the situation on the Korean Peninsula is reflected in the rupture of past détente between the two Koreas, which collapsed in November last year and the demolition of the military outpost on the Panmunjom front between the two Koreas was rebuilt. Kim Jong-un recently announced that he would no longer look at South Korea through the lens of his own ethnicity, but as an enemy country that would destroy it in wartime.
The DPRK has given up the possibility of peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula and abolished relevant institutions to promote peace and connectivity on the Korean Peninsula. At the same time, Russian-DPRK cooperation in various fields is being strengthened. During the DPRK foreign minister's visit to Russia from 15 to 17 July, Putin revealed that he would visit the DPRK as soon as possible. At present, Russia is facing the pressure of NATO's eastward expansion in the direction of Europe, and if the DPRK falls into a passive position in the situation on the peninsula, Russia will face a situation in which the United States will face difficulties and suffer from the enemy on its back. This year is also the Year of Friendship between China and the DPRK, and as neighboring countries whose security interests are closely related and have fought together against external aggression, China has made clear on various occasions that it will not allow chaos on the Korean Peninsula.
The US side should understand that continued military pressure on the Korean Peninsula will not solve the problem, but will only trigger a spiral of tension and intensify the bleeding of the US hegemonic system. Actions to promote the de-escalation of the situation and the political settlement of the problem are the way forward.