MILITARY TALKS OFFER
The commentary comes just a day after Seoul proposed military talks with Pyongyang to prevent border clashes, the first such offer in seven years.
President Lee has also offered to hold broader discussions with the North without preconditions, a sharp reversal from the hawkish stance taken by his conservative predecessor.
In response to the commentary, South Korea’s presidential office said the country had “no hostile intentions toward North Korea, contrary to the Korean Central News Agency opinion”.
The agreement between South Korea and the US was aimed at “protecting the nation and solidifying the security alliance between Korea and the US”, said presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung.
North Korea’s comments show concerns from the nuclear-armed state that if South Korea acquires nuclear-powered submarines, “it could become a stepping stone to the country achieving a semi-nuclear-weapon-state status”, Yang Moo- jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.
“The move is likely to negatively affect the prospects for holding inter-Korean military talks,” added Yang.
North Korea has yet to respond to Lee’s overtures.
Beijing also voiced caution over the Washington-Seoul deal on nuclear submarine technology on Thursday.
The partnership “goes beyond a purely commercial partnership, directly touching on the global non-proliferation regime and the stability of the Korean Peninsula and the wider region”, Dai Bing, China’s ambassador to Seoul, told reporters last week.
