Global Courant
SEOUL — North Korea on Monday denounced what it called a move by the United States to introduce a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine into waters near the Korean peninsula, saying it creates a situation that would bring a nuclear conflict closer to the brings reality.
North Korea also claimed that US reconnaissance aircraft recently violated its airspace near the east coast, an unnamed spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense is quoted in a statement released by the official KCNA news agency.
“There is no guarantee that a shocking incident in which a US Air Force strategic reconnaissance aircraft is shot down over the Baltic Sea will not happen,” the spokesman said.
The statement cited previous incidents in which the North shot down or intercepted US aircraft on the border with South Korea and off its coast. North Korea has often complained about US surveillance flights near the peninsula.
The moves by the United States to introduce strategic nuclear assets to the Korean Peninsula are blatant nuclear blackmail against North Korea and regional countries and pose a serious threat to peace, KCNA said.
“It is up to future US actions whether an extreme situation occurs in the Korean Peninsula that no one wants, and the United States will be held fully responsible if an unexpected situation arises,” it said.
A US nuclear-powered submarine carrying cruise missiles arrived in South Korea’s Busan port in June.
In April, the leaders of South Korea and the United States agreed that a US Navy ballistic missile submarine will visit South Korea for the first time since the 1980s, but no timetable for such a visit has been given.
It was part of a plan to boost the deployment of US strategic assets aimed at a more effective response to North Korea’s threats and weapons tests in defense of its ally South Korea, as agreed by the two leaders.
The switch to sailing nuclear submarines has created a “very dangerous situation that makes it impossible for us to realistically not accept the worst-case scenario of a nuclear confrontation,” the North Korean statement said.
In June, a US B-52 strategic bomber participated in air military exercises with South Korea in a show of force following North Korea’s failed launch of a spy satellite in late May. REUTERS
