North Korea warns deployment of US military assets in South Korea could lead to use of nuclear weapons
SEOUL, July 20 (Reuters) – North Korea has issued a warning that the deployment of U.S. aircraft carriers, bombers or missile submarines in South Korea could meet the criteria for its use of nuclear weapons. According to state media KCNA, the country’s defense minister, Kang Sun Nam, made the statement.
Tensions continue to escalate between the United States and North Korea over the latter’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. The defense minister’s remarks accuse the United States and South Korea of fueling the tensions in the region while criticizing the first meeting of their Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG).
“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,” the statement said. DPRK is short for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The statement by Kang Sun Nam targeted the nuclear-armed Ohio-class U.S. ballistic missile submarine that arrived at a port in the southern city of Busan earlier this week. The KCNA report described the current situation on the Korean peninsula as a dangerous reality.
South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense responded to the situation, stating that the NCG meeting and the deployment of the USS Kentucky were only defensive countermeasures against the North’s nuclear and missile threats. The ministry declared that North Korea would receive no concessions from the South Korea-U.S. alliance for its nuclear development and threats, which would only worsen its isolation and hardships.
This development comes after a U.S. soldier crossed the border into North Korea on Tuesday during a time of heightened tension between the two Koreas and the United States. North Korea has yet to comment on the incident.
Last year, North Korea established a new nuclear law that declared its status as a nuclear-armed state “irreversible.” The law outlined a set of circumstances under which North Korea might resort to nuclear use, and it appears that the visit of the U.S. submarine is consistent with those conditions, according to Ankit Panda of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
In a broader sense, North Korea may be attempting to discourage additional displays of reassurance by the United States for South Korea, Panda added.
Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Additional reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Mike Harrison and Tom Hogue