Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said South Korea’s plan to build nuclear-powered submarines will “worsen the instability” in the region, calling Seoul’s move a threat to the North’s national security, according to state media on Thursday.
Kim made the remarks during an on-site inspection of an 8,700-ton nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine under construction, reports Yonhap, quoting the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The North Korean leader referred to Seoul’s plan to build nuclear-powered submarines, saying it “will worsen the instability in the region of the Korean Peninsula … (and) DPRK regards it as an offensive act severely violating its security and maritime sovereignty.”
DPRK refers to the official name of North Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
He also said it represents “a threat to its security that must be countered.”
Kim reaffirmed that the country will maintain its national security policy and principle of deterring the enemy.
“It is needed to make the enemy understand with no doubt that they will be surely forced to pay a dear price when they violate the security of the DPRK’s strategic sovereignty and that they will face a merciless retaliatory attack if they try to select a military option,” he said.
“The DPRK will continue to show such capabilities, and this goes just as the responsible exercise of the true nuclear war deterrent and a reliable shield for defending sovereignty,” Kim noted.
The leader also said its nuclear forces are aimed at permanently ensuring the peaceful environment and absolute security of the country, calling the new nuclear submarine “an epoch-making crucial change … (in) the war deterrent level.”
He also affirmed “the strategic and tactical policy to steadily push forward with the nuclear weaponisation of the navy.”
Thursday’s KCNA report suggests the country is developing a nuclear-powered submarine equipped with guided missiles, a project it first unveiled in March, citing a decision made at a party congress.
Kim claimed that attack destroyers and nuclear submarines under construction will “make a leap forward in bolstering up the combat capabilities of our fleets.”
He also vowed to “increase and expand the speed and scale of building various surface and underwater warships and continuously equip them with different offensive weapon systems.”
During the inspection, the leader also reviewed research on new underwater secret weapons under development and unveiled a strategic plan for reorganising the naval forces and establishing new units, the KCNA said.
(IANS)
