North Korea threatens to use nuclear weapons against US-South Korea, blames alliance for escalating tension
North Korea warns that the deployment of US aircraft carriers, bombers or missile submarines in South Korea could meet criteria for using nuclear weapons.
North Korea has said that the deployment of US aircraft carriers, bombers or missile submarines in South Korea might be seen as meeting criteria for using nuclear weapons, as reported by state media KCNA.
Kang Sun Nam, the defence minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), criticised the US and South Korea for escalating tensions in the region during their Nuclear Consultative Group meeting.
"The ever-increasing visibility of the deployment of the strategic nuclear submarine and other strategic assets may fall under the conditions of the use of nuclear weapons specified in the DPRK law," Reuters quoted an official statement as saying.
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The North expressed concern over the arrival of the nuclear-armed US ballistic missile submarine in Busan. The situation on the Korean peninsula is deemed dangerous, according to KCNA. South Korea defends the NCG meeting and USS Kentucky deployment as defensive measures against nuclear and missile threats.
South Korea's Ministry of National Defense has said the NCG meeting and the deployment of the USS Kentucky were "just defensive countermeasures" against the North's nuclear and missile threats.
"North Korea will get no concessions from the South Korea-US alliance for its nuclear development and threats which will only lead to worsening isolation and hardships," the South Korean ministry said in a statement.
The KCNA report came after a US soldier crossed the border into North Korea on Tuesday at a time of heightened tension between the two Koreas and the United States.
North Korea has yet to comment on the incident involving the US soldier.
In 2022, North Korea enacted an all-encompassing nuclear law, solidifying its position as a nuclear-armed state with no intention of reversing it.
The law allows for various scenarios where nuclear use could be a possibility, and the recent submarine visit aligns with those conditions, as stated by Ankit Panda from the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"More broadly, though, I think they're seeking to dissuade Washington from regularizing additional shows of reassurance of this nature for the South Koreans," Panda said.
(With Reuters inputs)
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Business NewsNewsWorldNorth Korea threatens to use nuclear weapons against US-South Korea, blames alliance for escalating tension
First Published:21 Jul 2023, 06:34 AM IST
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