In August previous year, Seoul said 70 per cent of the North’s total submarine fleet, about 50 vessels, had left their bases and disappeared from South’s military radar, sparking alarm.
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The National Intelligence Service told a parliamentary committee meeting that the North unsuccessfully tried to hack into the railway control system and computer networks of financial institutions in South Korea, according to the office of lawmaker Joo Ho-young who attended the private meeting. However, the secretive North Korean government hasn’t released an official statement about the missing submarine.
Military tensions on the divided Korean peninsula have been on the rise since the North carried out its fourth nuclear test in January, followed by a long-range rocket launch last month.
The United States and South Korean staged a big amphibious landing exercise on Saturday, storming simulated North Korean beaches, heightening tension and threats by the North to annihilate its enemies.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the successful underwater test fire of a ballistic missile, North Korean state news agency, KCNA, said Saturday. USA officials said the drill is meant to ensure readiness for a range of operations, including humanitarian work as well as military offensives.
North Korean state media boasted of the nation’s right to launch a “pre-emptive nuclear attack” and issued a final warning to Washington.
Last week, KCNA reported that the North Korean leader said his country’s “nuclear warheads need to be ready for use at any time”.
Kim reportedly made the order after watching a recent ballistic missile test.
Both say they oppose the deployment of an American missile-defense system in South Korea. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Pyongyang to “cease destabilizing acts”, adding that Ban remained “gravely concerned” by the situation. However, Admiral Bill Gortney, the officer responsible for defending U.S. air space, told a U.S. Senate panel on Thursday it was “prudent” for him to assume North Korea could both miniaturize a warhead and put it on an ICBM that could target the United States.
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In accordance with the US Naval Institute journal, officials said the sub when it suddenly vanished was being tracked by the US Navy.
