North Korea on Monday denounced what it said was a move by the United States to deploy a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine into waters off the Korean Peninsula.
She said that this leads to a situation that brings the nuclear conflict closer to reality.
North Korea also said US spy planes recently violated its airspace off its east coast, quoting an unnamed National Defense Ministry official in a statement released by the official Korea Central News Agency.
“There is no guarantee that a horrific incident did not occur when a US Air Force strategic reconnaissance aircraft was shot down over the East Sea,” the spokesman said.
The statement cites previous incidents of North Korea shooting down or intercepting US aircraft on the border with South Korea and off the coast. North Korea has long complained about US reconnaissance flights near the peninsula.
The KCNA said that the steps taken by the United States to introduce strategic nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula are blatant nuclear blackmail of North Korea and the countries of the region and pose a serious threat to peace.
And she added: “It depends on the actions of the United States in the future whether an unnecessary emergency situation arises on the Korean Peninsula, and the United States will bear full responsibility in the event of any unforeseen situation.”
A US submarine armed with nuclear-powered cruise missiles arrived at the port of Busan in South Korea last month.
In April, South Korean and US leaders agreed that a US Navy nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine would visit South Korea for the first time since the 1980s, but no schedule was set for the visit.
This was part of a plan to expand the deployment of US strategic assets to better respond to North Korean threats and test weapons in defense of its ally South Korea, as agreed by the two leaders.
South Korean President Yoon Seok Yul, in a letter to The Associated Press, said the time had come to show that “the resolve of the international community to deter North Korea’s nuclear program is stronger than North Korea’s desire to develop nuclear weapons.”
Yoon’s office also announced that the South Korean president is due to attend a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Lithuania this week as he is expected to seek closer cooperation with NATO countries regarding North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
North Korea said in a statement that switching to nuclear submarines creates “a very dangerous situation that prevents us from realistically accepting the worst-case scenario of a nuclear confrontation.”
