North Korea slams US approval of South Korea’s drive to build nuclear-powered submarines

"The fact that the US, ignoring the danger of a global nuclear arms race that would result from nuclear proliferation to non-nuclear states, approved South Korea's possession of nuclear submarines and then permitted uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing, thereby laying the foundation for North Korea to rise to the status of a ‘quasi-nuclear power,’ clearly demonstrates the US's dangerous confrontational tactics," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Tuesday.

KCNA said a joint fact sheet released by the White House following a meeting last month in South Korea between US President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung once again established a policy of hostility and confrontation against North Korea.

It marked the first reaction from North Korea to the document that Seoul and Washington released on Friday.

It said the document clearly shows that the US and South Korean administrations are pursuing “open confrontation” against North Korea.

Following Pyongyang’s latest reaction, South Korea presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said that Seoul has no "hostile" intent toward Pyongyang.

"We will continue to work consistently toward easing inter-Korean tensions and rebuilding trust," Yonhap News Agency quoted Kang as saying.

During his visit to South Korea last month, Trump said his administration will share nuclear propulsion technologies with South Korea to allow its navy to build at least one nuclear-powered submarine.

South Korea's Defense Ministry later announced its intent to launch a nuclear-powered submarine built with domestic technology in the mid-to-late 2030s.