N. Korea slams Seoul, Tokyo nuclear submarine push as 'Washington's alliance expansion scheme'

North Korea has condemned South Korea's and Japan's pursuit of nuclear-powered submarines as a product of American scheming, and argued that Pyongyang must strengthen its own nuclear capabilities in response.

KCNA on Wednesday carried a commentary by international security analyst Choe Ju-hyeon under the title "The Absolute Factor in Global Nuclear Security Disruption — Washington's Nuclear Submarine Alliance Expansion Scheme."

According to the piece, Choe criticized recent remarks by a US Navy official who expressed a positive view of South Korea's pursuit of nuclear-powered submarines and calls from some quarters in Japan for the country to acquire them, saying the official had made statements "actively inciting Japan and South Korea to possess nuclear submarines."

Choe said the remarks demonstrated that Washington's "AUKUS (the security partnership among the United States, Britain and Australia) 2.0" concept — which would allow the transfer of military nuclear technology to non-nuclear allies — "has entered a full-scale phase of expansion and implementation."

He went on to say that the United States, which "talks about upholding the nuclear nonproliferation regime on one side while shamelessly seeking to provide nuclear strike capabilities to its junior allies in exchange for enormous financial gain," was engaging in nothing more than "a cheap trick to conceal its own criminal record of nuclear proliferation."

Choe argued that North Korea's nuclear buildup was therefore necessary. He said Washington's "irresponsible and malicious practices in the nuclear field, which are becoming increasingly commonplace, are a prime risk factor accelerating the erosion of the international nuclear nonproliferation regime," adding that this "more clearly highlights the need for our state to qualitatively and quantitatively strengthen its nuclear war deterrence without a moment's stagnation or standstill."

He also said the international community "must without delay render a fair and uncompromising judgment on the United States' schemes to stoke nuclear proliferation across the globe and bring about a catastrophic nuclear domino effect, and must make concerted and responsible efforts to oppose them."