North Korea says AUKUS Indo-Pacific alliance could trigger ‘nuclear arms race’

North Korea's Foreign Ministry on Monday warned that the new Aukus pact that entails a trio alliance of the US, the UK, and Australia in the Indo-Pacific region could trigger a "nuclear arms race". The three-way defence partnership which involves the supply of Washington manufactured nuclear submarines to Canberra threatens North Korea's largest trade partner, Beijing's maritime expansionist agendas, and its belligerence in the South China sea. 

On Sunday, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's state media KCNA quoted a foreign ministry official as saying: "These are extremely undesirable and dangerous acts which will upset the strategic balance in the Asia-Pacific region and trigger off a chain of the nuclear arms race." "This shows that the US is the chief culprit toppling the international nuclear non-proliferation system," foreign news section chief at the ministry's Department of Press and Information further stressed. 

North Korea and China pledge to take cooperation 'to a new stage'

Regional allies North Korea and China have long pledged cooperation and mutual support against the United States and western nations to combat foreign hostility. The two nations strengthened economic ties on the 60th anniversary of the signing of their Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance in July this year. In a message delivered to the Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korea's autocratic leader Kim Jong Un had earlier said that China and North Korea's strategic relationship was vital in the face of hostile foreign forces, according to North Korea’s KCNA news agency. The Chinese President had vowed to bring cooperation with DPK  “to a new stage".

Last week, North Korea also test-fired two submarine-launched ballistic missiles into the eastern coastal waters on Wednesday afternoon, becoming only the seventh in the world with such advanced weaponry. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff in a statement said that the missiles were launched from central North Korea, and landed just outside Japan's exclusive economic zone in the waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula. Tokyo, meanwhile, condemned the missile launch, saying that the South Korean and US intelligence authorities were analysing more details. Japan's coast guard updated on Twitter that no vessels were damaged from the North Korean test firing. 

"The firings threaten the peace and safety of Japan and the region and are absolutely outrageous," Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said in a statement. "The government of Japan is determined to further step up our vigilance and surveillance to be prepared for any contingencies."