North Korea expressed its strong condemnation of the United States’ approval of South Korea’s plans to build its first nuclear-powered submarine, considering it a “dangerous development” that threatens to exacerbate political and military instability in the Asia-Pacific region.
In a statement issued by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and reported by the Korean Central News Agency, Pyongyang saw this step as “additional evidence” of Washington’s efforts to deploy nuclear capabilities through the security alliance agreement known as “OCOS.”
The ministry accused the United States of having a long history of “extremist nuclear armament,” stressing that American policies resulted in “the collapse of the international nuclear system.”
This agreement between the two allies comes within the framework of a trade deal concluded last year, through which Seoul seeks to launch its first nuclear submarine by the mid-2030s, as part of a strategic defense program aimed at confronting the growing threats from the nuclear and missile arsenals of North Korea’s submarines.
