North Korea has tested the Haeil-5-23 underwater nuclear weapon, the country's defense ministry said in a statement disseminated by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The defense ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) claimed that this weapon test in the Sea of Japan was in response to the naval exercises that the US, South Korea, and Japan held between Monday and Wednesday.

“We strongly condemn the reckless actions of the United States and its satellites, which seriously threaten the security of DPRK since the beginning of the new year, and strongly warn of the catastrophic consequences,” the aforesaid statement noted, in part.