North Korea warned that the deployment of the US nuclear submarine in South Korea could justify the use of atomic weapons

It occurs in the midst of an escalation in tension between the two countries.

North Korea issued a major alert on Thursday amid tensions with the United States. From Pyongyang they warned that the arrival of a US submarine equipped with nuclear weapons at a South Korean port “could fall within the conditions of use of nuclear weapons” North Korea.

“The deployment of the strategic nuclear submarine and other strategic assets could fall within the conditions of use of nuclear weapons specified in the law on nuclear force policy,” North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun Nam said in a statement.

The USS Kentucky submarine arriving at the Busan Naval Base in South Korea. Photo REUTERS

A US nuclear-armed submarine has called at a South Korean port for the first time in four decades, a White House official said Tuesday.

Seoul and Washington stepped up defense cooperation by organizing joint military drills of late.

On Tuesday, they held the first meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) in Seoul, aimed at improving nuclear coordination between the two allied countries and bolstering military readiness against North Korea.

The last time Washington deployed one of its nuclear submarines to South Korea was in 1981.

In April, the United States announced that it would deploy a submarine capable of launching ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads on the Korean peninsula but did not specify the date. The announcement coincided with an official visit by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to the United States.

The relationship was further strained after a US soldier entered North Korea without authorization.

North Korea did not respond Thursday to US attempts to speak about the US soldier who escaped across the heavily armed border and whose prospects for a quick release were unclear at a time of high military tensions and slack in canals. Communication.

Private Travis King, who was due to return to Fort Bliss, Texas after serving jail time in South Korea for assault, ran across the border during a civilian visit to the border town of Panmunjom on Tuesday. He is the first American known to be detained in North Korea in nearly five years.

“The Pentagon contacted their counterparts in the (North) Korean People’s Army yesterday. As I understand it, the communications have not been responded to,” Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the US State Department, told reporters in Washington on Wednesday.

According to Miller, the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department are working together to gather information on King’s whereabouts and condition. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the US government will continue to work to ensure his safety and return to his family.

Travis King, the American soldier who is missing after illegally crossing the North Korean border. Photo Reuters

As far as is known, there are currently no active talks between North Korea and the United States or South Korea.

The reason why King crossed the border is unknown at this time. A witness participating in the same visit said that she at first thought it was a prank until she heard a US soldier on patrol yelling at others to try to stop him. But King had crossed the border in just a few seconds.

King, 23, was serving in South Korea as a cavalry scout with the 1st Armored Division. He faced the possibility of being discharged from the military and other possible penalties upon his conviction.

In February, a South Korean court fined him 5 million won ($3,950) after he was convicted of assaulting an unidentified person and damaging a police vehicle in October in Seoul, according to the verdict transcript seen by him. The Associated Press. According to the ruling, the soldier was also charged with beating a man at a nightclub in the city, although the court dismissed the charge because the victim did not want him to be punished.

It is not known what King did in the hours between leaving the airport on Monday and taking part in the visit to Panmunjom on Tuesday. The army found out he was missing when he didn’t disembark from the flight in Texas.

North Korea had already detained several Americans in the past on charges of alleged espionage and subversion, among others. But it is the first known arrest of an American since Pyongyang ousted Bruce Byron Lowrance in 2018. During the Cold War, a small number of American soldiers who fled to the hermetic nation later appeared in North Korean propaganda films.