North Korea says Seoul-U.S. sub deal will set off nuclear domino impact

North Korea denounced an settlement between Seoul and Washington to construct nuclear-powered submarines, saying in a state media commentary on Tuesday (November 18, 2025) that the deal would trigger a “nuclear domino” impact.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung introduced the finalisation of a long-awaited safety and commerce settlement with the United States final week, together with plans to maneuver ahead with creating atomic-powered vessels.

Seoul mentioned it had secured “help for increasing our authority over uranium enrichment and spent-fuel reprocessing”.

In its first feedback responding to the deal, the nuclear-armed North fired again that the submarine programme was a “harmful try at confrontation”.

The settlement is a “critical improvement that destabilises the army safety state of affairs within the Asia-Pacific area past the Korean peninsula and causes the state of affairs of unattainable nuclear management within the world sphere,” mentioned the commentary carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Tuesday (November 18, 2025).

South Korea’s possession of nuclear submarines “is certain to trigger a ‘nuclear domino phenomenon’ within the area and spark a scorching arms race”, Pyongyang added. It additionally mentioned “the DPRK (North Korea) will take extra justified and reasonable countermeasures,” as a result of two nations’ “confrontational intention”.

North Korea’s state media mentioned in October that it had fired the ninth and closing take a look at of a ballistic engine, indicating {that a} full launch of a brand new ICBM may very well be performed in coming months.

Military talks supply

The commentary comes only a day after Seoul proposed army talks with Pyongyang to stop border clashes, the primary such supply in seven years.

President Lee has additionally supplied to carry broader discussions with the North with out preconditions, a pointy reversal from the hawkish stance taken by his conservative predecessor.

In response to the commentary, South Korea’s presidential workplace mentioned the nation had “no hostile intentions towards North Korea, opposite to the Korean Central News Agency opinion”.

The settlement between South Korea and the United States was aimed toward “defending the nation and solidifying the safety alliance between Korea and the United States”, mentioned presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung.

North Korea’s feedback present considerations from the nuclear-armed state that if South Korea acquires nuclear-powered submarines, “it might develop into a stepping stone to the nation reaching a semi-nuclear-weapon-state standing”, Yang Moo- jin, a professor on the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, informed AFP.

“The transfer is more likely to negatively have an effect on the prospects for holding inter-Korean army talks,” added Mr. Yang.

North Korea has but to answer Lee’s overtures.

Beijing additionally voiced warning over the Washington-Seoul deal on nuclear submarine know-how on Thursday (November 13, 2025).

The partnership “goes past a purely business partnership, instantly bearing on the worldwide non-proliferation regime and the soundness of the Korean Peninsula and the broader area”, Dai Bing, China’s ambassador to Seoul, informed reporters final week.