North Korea Condemns South Korea Nuclear Submarine Deal — SkimNews
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- North Korea's foreign ministry called the US approval for South Korea's nuclear submarine a "dangerous development" that adds new instability to the Asia-Pacific political and military environment.
- The North Korean statement, published by state media KCNA, framed the approval as another instance of US nuclear proliferation through the AUKUS pact and part of Washington's "radical nuclear arms buildup" that caused the "collapse of international nuclear order."
- South Korea aims to launch its first nuclear-powered submarine by the mid-2030s under a program designed to counter North Korean submarine-launched nuclear and missile threats.
- The submarine plan was agreed between Washington and Seoul under a trade deal struck in 2025.
Why it matters: North Korea is publicly tying the South Korean submarine program to AUKUS, recasting Washington as a serial nuclear proliferator across the Indo-Pacific rather than a non-proliferation guarantor. The deal also reveals that South Korea's nuclear upgrade was bundled into a 2025 trade pact, making allied nuclear deterrence a negotiated economic chip rather than a standalone security decision.
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