[Edaily Reporter Kim In-kyoung ] North Korea has been stepping up its criticism of South Korea’s “nuclear-powered submarines” day after day. It appears to be justifying its own possession of nuclear weapons by claiming that South Korea’s nuclear submarines are intended to fulfill “nuclear ambitions.” Meanwhile, as the likelihood grows that North Korea was responsible for the recent landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the western front, North Korea has remained silent on the matter and is keeping its distance.

According to the Korean Central News Agency on the 29th, North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a “memorandum” titled “U.S. Nuclear Proliferation Acts as a Serious Challenge to International Peace and Security and Our Unwavering Response,” defining the United States as “the chief culprit of vertical proliferation that is bringing about a global nuclear nightmare.” A “memorandum” is a document intended to clarify the historical facts regarding a specific issue; this is the first time North Korea has issued such a “memorandum” since May of last year.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the U.S. approval of South Korea’s possession of nuclear submarines is a “dangerous development that adds new instability to the political and military security environment in the Asia-Pacific region.” It also claimed that by approving uranium enrichment activities during the 2015 negotiations to amend the nuclear agreement, the U.S. “gave the green light to South Korea’s nuclear ambitions to emerge as a ‘quasi-nuclear state.’”

At the same time, the North Korean Foreign Ministry justified its own possession of nuclear weapons. The ministry stated, “Today’s geopolitical situation, in which the international nuclear order has reached a state of total collapse due to the United States’ radical expansion of its nuclear forces and blatant acts of nuclear proliferation, requires our country to play a more active role in safeguarding world peace and ensuring global strategic security,” adding It emphasized, “As a responsible nuclear-weapon state, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s course of action will be thoroughly grounded in the grave reality that no international organization or treaty can rein in the United States’ nuclear buildup and nuclear proliferation schemes, which have exceeded all limits.”

North Korea has recently issued a series of condemnations targeting South Korea’s plan to acquire nuclear submarines. Kim Sun-kyong, North Korea’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and delegate to the UN General Assembly, also asserted in a keynote speech on the 28th (local time) that “current military trends—in which the United States approves and actively promotes Seoul’s ambition to possess nuclear submarines while deploying various types of equipment, including state-of-the-art missiles and drones, to the Korean Peninsula and surrounding regions—are further destabilizing an already precarious regional security situation.”

Earlier, Kim Yo-jong, Director of the General Affairs Department of the Workers’ Party and sister of State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un, had also criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), stating, “The IAEA has remained silent throughout, failing to utter a single word of truth regarding South Korea’s alarming plan to acquire nuclear submarines, despite South Korea being a non-nuclear state.”

South Korea’s construction of nuclear-powered submarines was agreed upon during the South Korea-U.S. summit held in Gyeongju last October. Although the two countries held a government-wide consultation in June, the second round of talks was delayed due to issues such as U.S. investment and the Coupang controversy; however, momentum appears to be picking up again following the UN General Assembly on the 23rd (local time). The South Korean government emphasizes that its nuclear submarines are not strategic nuclear submarines armed with nuclear weapons, but rather “conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines,” and stresses that this initiative complies with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Meanwhile, while North Korea has stepped up its criticism of South Korea’s nuclear submarine construction, it has not taken a clear stance regarding the recent landmine incident. The day before, the Joint Chiefs of Staff released preliminary investigation findings regarding an explosion in the DMZ on the western front that injured South Korean service members, stating that it is highly likely the explosion was caused by a landmine laid by North Korean forces. They added that if the final investigation confirms it was a North Korean landmine, they will take commensurate measures.

Although the South Korean government has only released the preliminary investigation results so far, experts believe it is highly likely that North Korea will continue its deliberate silence. This is because, having chosen the path of “two hostile states” and deliberately ignored South Korea, North Korea is unlikely to opt for “dialogue” as it did during the 2015 wooden box landmine incident. Professor Im Eul-chul of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University expressed concern, stating, “North Korea, which has claimed that such activities are measures to safeguard its security, could justify the landmines as a matter of national defense rather than a provocation against the South.”

An official from the Ministry of Unification stated, “As the military investigation is ongoing, the Ministry of Unification will cooperate closely with relevant agencies, including the Ministry of National Defense, and review necessary measures based on the investigation’s findings,” adding, “We believe it is important to thoroughly clarify all relevant matters at this stage.”