SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korea denounced South Korea's efforts to build a nuclear-powered submarine, calling it a step toward "nuclear armament," Pyongyang's state media said.

In a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Jang Kum-chol, first vice minister of North Korea's foreign ministry, said that Seoul's goal was to "free itself from the constraints of restrictions on spent nuclear fuel reprocessing and uranium enrichment and secure the right to produce nuclear material, ultimately paving the way to nuclear armament."

He warned Seoul's nuclear cooperation with Washington on nuclear submarine development will further destabilize the Korean Peninsula and pose a grave challenge to North Korea's security and maritime sovereignty.

"Having a capability to respond with unsurvivable, irrecoverable retaliatory strikes would be the most responsible choice for deterring war."

jaeyeon.woo@yna.co.kr

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