North Korea threatens possible use of nuclear weapons: US and South Korea have crossed the red line

The deployment of a U.S. nuclear-capable strategic submarine in South Korea may “fulfill the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons,” the North Korean news agency KCNA reported. North Korea’s defense ministry said Washington and Seoul “crossed a red line.”

Last year North Korea passed the Nuclear Weapons Act, which allows the use of nuclear weapons in the event of a nuclear attack or if nuclear weapons are considered imminent against Pyongyang, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.

“The U.S. side should realize that its nuclear assets have entered extremely dangerous waters,” Pyongyang’s defense ministry warned, quoted by KCNA.

The statement by the Korean Ministry of Defense refers to the USS Kentucky submarine carrying ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads, which entered the port of Busan in South Korea on Tuesday.

Pyongyang accused the US and South Korea of ​​escalating tensions in the Korean Peninsula region and crossing a “red line”.

The ship’s arrival coincided with the first session of the US-Korean Nuclear Consultative Group, which is to counter the use of nuclear weapons by the Kim Jong Un regime. Pyongyang’s statement on Thursday also condemned the group’s rise.

Also on Tuesday, an American soldier crossed the border between Koreas northwards. So far, Pyongyang has not released any statement on the matter.

For the first time in 40 years, a U.S. nuclear-armed submarine arrived in South Korea on Tuesday, White House official Kurt Campbell said in Seoul.

Campbell arrived in the Republic of Korea for the first meeting of the US-South Korean nuclear advisory group NCG. The joint declaration regarding the establishment of this group was announced after the April meeting between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and the US President Joe Biden in Washington.

The NCG Consultative Group aims to improve the coordination of a joint nuclear response in the event of a war with North Korea, South Korea seeks to have its own nuclear weapons, but Washington opposes it.

The NCG meeting was condemned by Pyongyang, which on Monday said it was an “open discussion about the use of nuclear weapons” and warned of plans for “military shows” including a submarine visit, Reuters noted.

Campbell said on Tuesday that the ship’s arrival in South Korea was a manifestation of American commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea.

United States promised to give Seoul aircraft carriers, submarines and long-range bombers to deter a northern neighbor that is developing increasingly powerful missiles that can reach targets as far away as the US.

South Korea’s defense ministry later confirmed the ship’s arrival and said it was the USS Kentucky, an Ohio-class submarine. US submarines armed with missiles with nuclear warheads rarely make public appearances in foreign ports. However, in the 1970s, these types of units often visited South Korea.