SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's criticism Wednesday of Seoul's push for nuclear-powered submarines marked Pyongyang's first official response to the matter, a South Korean unification ministry official said Thursday.

In a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) the previous day, Jang Kum-chol, first vice minister of North Korea's foreign ministry, argued Seoul's effort to build nuclear submarines marked a step toward nuclear armament.

Jang warned that nuclear cooperation between Seoul and Washington on submarine development will further destabilize the Korean Peninsula, and called on his country to secure "unparalleled power capable of neutralizing all sorts of existing or newly-emerging potential threats."

"It marks the first official statement to lay out North Korea's basic position" on the matter, the unification ministry official said.

The timing was especially notable, he said, coming amid Pyongyang's escalating propaganda campaign against Japan's nuclear policy as well as trilateral security cooperation among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo.

North Korea appears to view these developments as security threats it must guard against, a source said, adding the commentary reflects a recent trend of North Korea increasingly aligning itself with the security positions of Russia and China.

jaeyeon.woo@yna.co.kr

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