North Korea says US-driven nuclear submarine push justifies its own weapons build-up

SEOUL - North Korea on Sept 16 accused the United States of expanding a “nuclear submarine alliance” that it said was undermining global nuclear security, as the fifth anniversary of its AUKUS defence pact with Australia and Britain arrives.Washington was intensifying nuclear proliferation efforts, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, citing an international affairs analyst named Choe Ju Hyon, who accused a senior US naval official of encouraging Japan and South Korea to pursue nuclear-powered submarines.Saying that the AUKUS pact - under which the United States and Britain are helping Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines - has become a template Washington is seeking to extend to other allies including South Korea and Japan, and noting Seoul’s pursuit of nuclear-powered submarines and discussion in Tokyo, the commentary said the developments justified North Korea’s continued build-up of its own nuclear deterrent.North Korea has been advancing its own push for a nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed submarine. In December, North Korean state media photos showed a largely completed hull of a submarine as leader Kim Jong Un visited a shipyard to inspect what it described as an 8,700-ton-class nuclear-propelled submarine, calling it a crucial step in the modernisation and nuclear armament of the navy.Separately, KCNA reported that a delegation from North Korea’s Ministry of National Defence, led by Vice-Minister Kim Kang Il, departed Pyongyang on Sept 15 to attend a regional security conference in China called the 13th Beijing Xiangshan Forum. REUTERS