N. Korea threatens to expand conventional weapons response to US-South Korea arms deals

North Korea on Sunday threatened to strengthen its military-technological response not only in nuclear and missile capabilities but also in conventional weapons, pushing back against recent arms deals and military buildup moves between South Korea and the United States.

A vice director of the Equipment General Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense issued a statement in response to questions from KCNA, citing recent arms contracts and military cooperation between the two countries. "We will continuously make the hostile forces recognize that their irresponsible arms deals and military buildup are inefficient and meaningless acts," the official said.

"Devising military-technological measures in both symmetric and asymmetric fields by all means in response to the enemy states' arms buildup schemes that far exceed defensive limits is a priority task for the armed equipment sector of the republic's defense ministry," the official said.

The official added that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea "will thoroughly disallow any attempt to create an imbalance of power in the region through the accelerated renewal and evolution of its self-defensive deterrent."

The official specifically cited the Department of State's approval of a $106 million export of Joint Direct Attack Munitions and related equipment to South Korea, calling it part of South Korea's strategy to strengthen its conventional forces to take primary responsibility for what it described as deterrence against North Korea.

The official went on to say the sale "foreshadows changes in USFK's military role and the regional military tensions that will follow."

The statement also pointed to the United States' cooperative stance on South Korea's acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines, as well as Washington's approval of exports to Seoul of the GBU-39 small-diameter precision-guided bomb and the MH-60R multipurpose maritime operations helicopter.

In addition, the official said the United States has been expanding arms sales to regional allies and partners, including Taiwan and Japan.

The official called the situation "a fundamental factor destabilizing the regional situation on and beyond the Korean Peninsula and escalating military tensions," and said that "the current geopolitical events plainly show that America's reckless overseas arms sales add unpredictability at the regional and international level and inevitably lead to the abuse of force."