Seoul warns North Korean nuclear attack would ‘end’ Kim Jong-un’s regime
- Pyongyang’s defence minister said the arrival of a US submarine at a South Korean port may fall under conditions for the use of atomic weapons under a new law
- South Korea warned any nuclear attack on the alliance will face an ‘immediate, overwhelming and decisive response’
Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points ever, with the North ramping up weapons testing as Seoul and Washington boost military cooperation.
Pyongyang’s defence minister warned on Thursday that this week’s port visit of a US nuclear-capable submarine to Busan – the first since 1981 – could meet the legal threshold for the North to use its nuclear weapons.
North Korea last year adopted a sweeping nuclear law, setting out an array of scenarios – some of which are vague – in which it could use its nukes, including pre-emptive nuclear strikes if threatened.
As Seoul and Washington have “made clear” before, “any nuclear attack on the alliance will face an immediate, overwhelming and decisive response”, Seoul’s defence ministry said in a statement on Friday.