North Korea warns America may have met country’s threshold for using NUKES after US nuclear sub docked in South Korea

• Washington last deployed nuclear-capable submarines to South Korea in 1981 
• READ MORE: North Korea launches two missiles after US deployed a nuclear sub

North Korea has made a chilling threat to the West as the pariah state warned America may have met Pyongyang’s threshold for using nuclear weapons after a US nuclear-armed submarine docked in South Korea.

The deployment of the submarines marks the first time strategic nuclear weapons have been deployed on the Korean peninsula in around 40 years, the defence minister said.

‘I remind the US military of the fact that 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 on the nuclear force policy,’ Kang Sun Nam declared in a statement.

Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in their history, with diplomacy stalled and dictator Kim Jong Un calling for increased weapons development, including of tactical nuclear weapons.

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has sought to boost ties between Seoul and Washington in the face of growing North Korean threats, visited the Ohio-class submarine Wednesday in southern Busan port.

A view of the US ballistic missile submarine USS Kentucky (SSBN 737) anchored at the South Korean naval operations base in Busan

Pictured last week: Kim Jong Un looks on as Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile is launched from an undisclosed location in North Korea

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern sea early Wednesday in what appeared to be a statement of defiance as the United States deployed a nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea for the first time in decades. Picture released July 13, 2023

Washington last deployed one of its nuclear-capable submarines to South Korea in 1981.

‘The hostile forces posed the most undisguised and direct nuclear threat to the DPRK by bringing an Ohio-class strategic nuclear submarine to the Busan Port operation base, which means strategic nuclear weapons have been deployed on the Korean peninsula for the first time after 40 odd years,’ Kang said.

‘The US military side should realize that its nuclear assets have entered extremely dangerous waters,’ he said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

Yesterday, the DPRK fired two short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern sea in what appeared to be a statement of defiance

Seoul and Washington have ramped up defence cooperation in response to Pyongyang’s threats and repeated missile launches, staging joint military exercises with advanced stealth jets and US strategic assets.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (R) shakes hands with Naval Operations Commander V. Adm. Kim Myung-soo

Washington first announced it would deploy a submarine capable of launching ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads to the Korean peninsula in April

They held the first Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) meeting in Seoul on Tuesday, which aims to improve nuclear coordination and boost military readiness against North Korea.

READ MORE: North Korea launches two missiles in defiance after US deployed a nuclear sub to South Korea and a soldier was arrested crossing DMZ

Washington first announced it would deploy a submarine capable of launching ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads to the Korean peninsula in April, while South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was on a state visit.

North Korea baulks at having US nuclear assets deployed around the Korean peninsula.

‘To the US and the ‘ROK’, any use of their military muscle against the DPRK will be their most miserable choice by which they will have no room to think of their existence again,’ Kang said.

North Korea’s statement comes as an American soldier, Travis King, is believed to be in Pyongyang’s custody after crossing the border during a tourist trip to the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarised Zone on Tuesday.

The US-led United Nations Command has said it is working with Pyongyang’s military to ‘resolve this incident’ but, with relations between Pyongyang and Washington at one of their lowest points in years, it’s unclear what will happen.

Travis King crossed into North Korea shortly after being released from prison in South Korea

Pyongyang has a long history of detaining Americans and using them as bargaining chips in bilateral ties.

Experts say it will be particularly difficult for Washington to seek consular access to King, with relations between the two countries at one of their most testy points in years.

In addition, nearly all foreign embassies in Pyongyang withdrew foreign staff after North Korea closed its borders in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

That includes Sweden, which handles US consular affairs in the North Korean capital.

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