WORLD War Three fears are mounting after Kim Jong-un warned of a chilling new nuclear arms race over Australia’s submarine pact with America and Britain.
The North Korean dictator slammed the “double standards” of the United States and vowed to retaliate after Joe Biden signed a historic deal to build Australia’s first nuclear submarine fleet.
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Kim said the pact was an “extremely” dangerous move which would destroy the security balance in the Asia-Pacific and set off a terrifying nuclear arms race.
According to the official KCNA news agency, North Korea’s foreign ministry said: “These are extremely undesirable and dangerous acts which will upset the strategic balance in the Asia-Pacific region and trigger off a chain of nuclear arms race.”
The ministry said North Korea was closely examining the deal and vowed counter-measures if it has “even a little adverse impact on the security of our country”.
The rogue state suspended its testing of nuclear bombs and intercontinental-range ballistic missiles in 2018 when Kim held talks with former President Donald Trump.
After the Trump-Kim summit in 2019, nuclear negotiations between Washington, Pyongyang and Washington have been deadlocked.
In an attempt to press the Biden administration about the stalled diplomacy, North Korea continues testing shorter-range weapons and has threatened South Korea as well as Japan.
Kim also unveiled the country’s latest missile launch technology last week – via a train.
The state announced it had tested its “railway-borne missile system” with warheads flying 497 miles before striking a target in the sea.
Kim is also said to be accelerating his bid for nuclear war after satellite pictures suggested he is “ramping up his production of uranium”.
Last week, the announcement of a historic new military partnership between Australia, America, and Britain was a sign of strength.
The alliance, known as AUKUS, will see the three countries work together to build Australia’s first fleet of nuclear submarine vessels.
The pact between Britain, America and Australia is seen as a direct response to the growing threat posed by China in the Indian and Pacific oceans.
FURIOUS CHINA
China hit back and slammed Britain and America for “aggravating an arms race”, while warning Australia will become a “potential target for a nuclear strike”.
The Communist regime’s Washington DC embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu accused the nations of adopting a “Cold War mentality” like the terrifying nuke stand-off between the US and the Soviet Union in the 20th century.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the agreement “seriously undermines regional peace and stability and intensifies the arms race”.
He said: “The export of highly sensitive nuclear submarine technology by the United States and Britain to Australia once again proves that they use nuclear exports as a tool of geopolitical games and adopt double standards, which is extremely irresponsible.”
He added that the deal gave regional countries “reason to question Australia’s sincerity in abiding by its nuclear non-proliferation commitments”.
He urged the Western allies to “abandon their outdated Cold War zero-sum thinking” or risk “shooting themselves in the foot”.
The alliance is seen to be a way to counter Beijing’s growing military and economic reach in the Asia-Pacific region.
In a shocking display of military power, Asian superpowers are investing billions in new aircraft carriers and submarines as well as state-of the-art missile systems.
China alone has ploughed an extra 1.35 trillion yuan (£151 billion) into military spending this year – a modest 6.8 per cent increase – as it seeks to extend its claim over territory in the South China Sea.
This agreement is a serious threat to regional stability and peace, and it will only increase the pace of the arms race.
Zhao Lijian
The rising superpower also boasts of having DF-26 missiles that could knock out targets across South East Asia with deadly precision and speed.
It is busy building “at least 250 long range missile silos” in three locations — sparking fears a new nuclear arms race is underway.
As Beijing launches its largest-ever nuke expansion, a third missile silo field was reportedly photographed by an European Space Agency satellite.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute head Peter Jennings said that Australia’s acquisition of nuclear submarines was in response to this.
He said: “We should call the first submarine in this new category the Xi Jinping, because no person is more responsible for Australia going down this track than the current leader of the Chinese Communist Party.”
And last Wednesday, South Korea became the first non-nuclear nation to fire ballistic missiles from a submarine, hours after North Korea launched theirs.
Fumio, Japan’s next prime Minister, stated that his country should purchase preemptive military equipment such as fighter jets and missiles that can destroy enemy missiles before they launch.