Pyongyang has slammed Washington's plan to send a nuclear-armed submarine to the Korean Peninsula, calling the move an "undisguised nuclear blackmail" that may push the regional tensions to the brink of a nuclear conflict, the North Korean Defense Ministry said on Monday.
"The deployment of the US strategic nuclear submarine carrying nuclear warheads in the Korean peninsula means that the US strategic nuclear weapons will appear in the peninsula for the first time since 1981. This is a very dangerous situation as it will bring the regional military tension to a more critical state and may incite the worst crisis of nuclear conflict in practice," the defense ministry said in a statement quoted by the state-run media.
The defense ministry also said that the recent developments clearly proved that "the situation of the Korean peninsula is coming closer to the threshold of nuclear conflict due to the US provocative military action," as quoted by media.
"The US attempt to introduce strategic nuclear weapons into the Korean peninsula is the most undisguised nuclear blackmail against the DPRK and its neighboring countries and a grave threat and challenge to the regional and global peace and security," the defense department added.
US President Joe Biden said during a meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk-yeol, in Washington in April that he would send a nuclear submarine to South Korea to enhance the "regular visibility" of US strategic assets on the Korean peninsula.
The United States has been building up its military presence in the Indo-Pacific and the South China Sea to counter China. Beijing sees US warships in the area as a potential threat to its sovereignty and security.