North Korea warns US of nuclear retaliation as tensions rise

Al Jazeera News:

North Korea’s defence minister has warned the United States that the deployment of nuclear assets in South Korea could meet the conditions for its use of nuclear arms, according to state media.

Kang Sun Nam’s comments, reported on Thursday by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), came in response to the US sending a submarine with nuclear-armed ballistic missiles to South Korea this week for the first time in decades.

“The ever-increasing visibility of the deployment of the strategic nuclear submarine and other strategic assets may fall under the conditions of the use of nuclear weapons specified in the DPRK law,” Kang said in a statement, referring to his country by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Tensions between the US and North Korea have been on the rise in recent weeks with Pyongyang increasing its ballistic missile testing in defiance of Washington and international sanctions.

Late last week, the US, South Korea and Japan released a joint statement condemning the launch of a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile days earlier.

“The United States reiterated that its commitments to defend the ROK [Republic of Korea, or South Korea] and Japan are ironclad and backed by the full range of capabilities, including nuclear,” the statement said.