SEOUL (Reuters) -- A North
Korean military think tank on Monday dismissed South Korea’s recently tested submarine-launched ballistic missile as clumsy and rudimentary but warned its development would rekindle cross-border tension.
Both South and North Korea, which have been developing increasingly sophisticated weapons amid stalled efforts to ease tension on the peninsula, tested ballistic missiles on Wednesday.
Jang Chang Ha, chief of the Academy of the National Defense Science, a North Korean state-run weapons development and procurement center, said in a commentary on the official KCNA news agency that media photographs of the latest South Korean missile showed a “sloppy” weapon that did not even have the shape of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).
The missile seemed to be a version of the South’s Hyunmoo surface-to-surface ballistic missiles with the warhead part an imitation of India’s K-15 SLBM, Jang said.
“In a word, it should be called some clumsy work,” Jang said. “If it’s indeed an SLBM, it would only be in its rudimentary, infant stage.”
North Korea also warned on Monday that the United States risked a dangerous nuclear arms race by providing submarine technology to Australia, criticizing its “double standards” and vowing counter-measures.
Last week, the United States clinched a new trilateral security partnership involving Britain to provide technological aid to Australia to build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines.
North Korea joined China in decrying the U.S. decision as an “irresponsible one” that destroys regional peace and stability and global non-proliferation efforts.
“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 North’s foreign ministry said in a comment carried by the official KCNA news agency.
The North criticized Washington’s “double-dealing attitude,” singling out White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki’s remarks that it does not seek conflict with China but the decision was to shore up regional security.
Her comment “amounts to a stand that any country can spread nuclear technology if it is in its interests, and this shows that the U.S. is the chief culprit toppling the international nuclear non-proliferation system,” the ministry said.
“We are closely looking into the background of the U.S. decision and will certainly take a corresponding counter-action in case it has even a little adverse impact on the security of our country.”
Pyongyang has slammed Washington for supporting its own and allies’ weapons development while condemning the North’s programs as threats to regional peace and security.