North Korea slammed a decision by the United Kingdom and the United States to help Australia in the development of nuclear-powered submarines, calling it a "dangerous move" that may spark a nuclear arms race.
The Aukus trilateral deal, which was announced last Wednesday, is a critical element of broader security cooperation focused on cyber information and submarine technologies, and would provide Canberra with "conventionally armed" nuclear submarines.
North Korea on Monday slammed a new military pact among the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom, as well as a proposal to exchange nuclear submarine technology with Australia, warning that the agreement may spark a nuclear arms race and disturb the Asia-Pacific region's balance of power.
North Korea refuses Biden's outreach initiative
The three-nation deal, known as AUKUS, was unveiled by the Biden administration on Wednesday. The unexpected decision to transfer secret nuclear submarine technology with Australia has already sparked a diplomatic conflict with China - the pact's apparent aim - and scuttled a previous arrangement in which Australia would have acquired 12 French diesel-powered submarines.
Pyongyang test-fired two ballistic missiles and a new long-range cruise missile just days ago, raising tensions in the first public testing activity in months despite a lengthy impasse in nuclear talks with Washington. North Korea has so far refused to respond to the Biden administration's outreach initiatives, as per The Washington Post.
North Korean state media said that the cruise missiles were built over two years, achieving important defense goals set by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un - a remark that alluded to the missiles' probable nuclear capacity. The missiles are a "strategic weapon of great significance," according to KCNA.
Per SCMP, North Korea blasted two missiles into the sea on Wednesday, and Seoul successfully test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile hours later, becoming just the seventh country in the world to do so. The recent missile tests and large-scale defense deals in the Pacific have highlighted a regional arms race that is escalating as the competition between China and the United States increases.
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Other nations express concerns over Aukus alliance, submarine deal
France reacted angrily to Biden's statement, accusing Australia of hiding its plans to cancel a A$90 billion (US$66 billion) deal for the construction of 12 conventional diesel-electric submarines by the French majority state-owned Naval Group.
The decision was attributed by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to a deteriorating strategic environment in the area, a clear response to China's huge military build-up in recent years.
Malaysia and Indonesia have voiced worry about the new defense pact's consequences for regional security. Pyongyang's denunciation comes only days after it conducted a series of weapons tests, including a long-range cruise missile with nuclear capability and short-range ballistic missiles fired from a train, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
On Friday, satellite photos revealed North Korea was renovating a uranium enrichment complex, perhaps indicating plans to scale up nuclear weapons manufacturing.
According to the Yonhap newswire, Pyongyang also attacked South Korea's recently disclosed submarine-launched ballistic missile, calling it a "clumsy product" that could not be used as an efficient method of attack. The missile could "not be considered as a weapon of strategic and tactical significance," said the head of the regime's Academy of National Defense, The Daily Telegraph via MSN reported.
Related Article: France, China Furious Over US-Australia Nuclear-Powered Submarines Deal; French Foreign Minister Calls Move a "Stab in The Back"
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