Pyongyang: North Korea on Thursday denounced the United States for bolstering another "nuclear alliance" in the Asia-Pacific region over Australia's move to introduce nuclear-powered submarines from Washington via the AUKUS security partnership.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the North's condemnation came as Australia has made its first payment of US$500 million to the United States over its plan to buy Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines under the trilateral AUKUS security partnership also involving Britain. "This is not a just financial transaction, but it is the activation of another nuclear alliance led by the U.S. in earnest," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in its commentary.
North Korea claims that the move is an attempt to worsen the political and military environment in the Asia-Pacific region, which it states has already remained unstable. The commentary from the KCNA suggests that the United States aims to build multilayers of a nuclear siege against its enemies in the region through the creation of a "nuclear alliance" called AUKUS, alongside its similar partnership with South Korea and Japan.
The KCNA warned the United States to consider the consequences of its military actions, suggesting they may bring a nuclear cloud to the Asia-Pacific region. North Korea has expressed its intention to bolster its nuclear forces since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office in January, committing to a "toughest" counteraction strategy against Washington during a party meeting in December.