According To North Korea, August Could Spark A "Nuclear Arms Race."
Key Sentence:
- North Korea has condemned the new security pact between the US, UK, and Australia, saying it could spark a "nuclear arms race."
- A State Department spokesman said the Aukus deal would "disrupt the strategic balance in the Asia-Pacific region."
The agreement calls for the United States and Britain to equip Australia to build nuclear submarines. This is widely seen like an attempt to counter Chinese influence in the disputed South China Sea. The AUKUS pact was announced last week and will. Cover cruise missiles, artificial intelligence, and other technologies.
"This is a highly undesirable and dangerous act that upsets the strategic balance in the Asia-Pacific region and triggers the nuclear arms race chain," a DPRK Foreign Ministry official said of the security agreement.
Last week, North Korea conducted two major weapons tests: a long-range cruise missile and a ballistic missile. China also criticized the deal with Beijing Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijiang, saying the alliance threatened to "severely damage regional peace... and intensify the arms race."
Pyongyang said it was "natural for neighboring countries [such as] China to condemn this act as irresponsible for disturbing peace and stability in the region." The deal would reveal that the United States is sharing its underwater technology for the first time in 60 years, having previously shared it only once with Britain.
Who Owns a Nuclear Submarine?
This means that Australia will build nuclear submarines that are faster and harder to spot than a conventionally powered fleet. They can stay underwater for months, firing longer-range missiles - although Australia says it has no intention of imposing nuclear weapons on them.
China was not mentioned directly when the security agreement was announced. However, the three countries' heads of state and governments have repeatedly called regional security concerns "significantly growing."
North Korea also cited an earlier French statement calling the deal a "stab in the back" and saying the pact had created a "serious crisis" between the allies. France has criticized the August Pact for ending a $37 billion (£27 billion) contract Australia signed in 2016 for France to build 12 conventional submarines. France said it had been notified of the pact just hours before its announcement.