Did you know North Korea threatened nuclear war after an American sub visited the South?

Relations between North Korea and the United States have always been frosty but there was a short period during Donald Trump's presidency when the hostility and coldness between the two nations was warming.

However, for all the 'good' the former president may have done to re-engage the North Koreans, all of that goodwill fell apart when Joe Biden entered office. What caused the hostility to return is difficult to pinpoint but saber-rattling between the two countries

Five months into Biden's presidency, North Korea accused him of pursuing a "hostile policy" against the country following comments Biden made regarding Pyongyang's nuclear program according to BBC News in May 2021.

Biden said during his first 100 days speech to Congress that North Korea's nuclear program, along with Iran's program, posed a "serious threat to American security and the security of the world. He added that he would be working with America's allies on a policy of "stern deterrence."

Relations only continued to worsen after Biden's comments, and over the next two years, news headlines would report on nearly every grievance or accusation North Korea brought forward against the United States. However, few were as worrying as one statement in 2023 that threatened nuclear war.

On July 20th, 2023, North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun Nam warned the deployment of nuclear-armed U.S. missile submarines in South Korea met the criteria for the North to use its nuclear weapons according to the Korean Central News Agency. 

The Korean Central News Agency is Pyongyang’s official state-run media source and it republished the comments made by Defense Minister Kang as news about deployments of American military assets to South Korea created a stir among the North’s leadership. 

The North Korean Defense Minister went off on the United States and what Kang called traitors in South Korea for holding a meeting of the nuclear collective group in which the two countries discussed plans for using nuclear weapons against North Korea.  

Defense Minister Kang specifically called out the United States for its deployment of an Ohio-class submarine strategic submarine to the Port of Pusan, arguing the move would bring nuclear weapons back to the Korean Peninsula for the first time in forty-odd years. 

“This shows that the U.S. scenario for a nuclear attack upon the [Democratic Republic of North Korea] and its implementation has entered the most critical stage,” The Korean Central News Agency quoted the defense minister as claiming. 

“The phase of a military clash on the Korean peninsula has surfaced as a dangerous reality beyond all sorts of imagination and presumption,” Kang Sun Nam continued. 

On July 18th, 2023, the United States deployed the nuclear-armed USS Kentucky to South Korean waters, the first time in four decades an American nuclear-armed sub had been sent to the area according to the Associated Press. However, the move was done to meet new agreements that the U.S. made with South Korea back in April 2023.

“Periodic visits by U.S. nuclear ballistic missile-capable submarines to South Korea were one of several agreements reached by the two countries’ presidents,” wrote Hyung-Jin Kim of the Associated Press. 

Kim noted the submarine visits were meant as a response to the growing nuclear threat Pyongyang posed to the region and it was during the negotiations in April 2023 that the two countries established the nuclear consultative group in order to expand their military exercises. 

South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-Sup said the U.S. submarine’s visit worked to “extend deterrence” but this was not how North Korea’s Kang Sun Nam saw things, and he said the violation gave Pyongyang the pretext it needed to use nuclear weapons.

"The ever-increasing visibility of the deployment of the strategic nuclear submarine and other strategic assets may fall under the conditions of the use of nuclear weapons specified in [North Korean] law,” Kang explained before going on to warn U.S. officials. 

“The U.S. military side should realize that its nuclear assets have entered extremely dangerous waters. The U.S. military side should realize that its nuclear assets have entered extremely dangerous waters,” Kang’s statement read.

The North Korean Defence Minister then said Pyongyang would carry out any important mission related to the defense of the country and the Korean Peninsula by “repelling the crazy maneuvers of the U.S. and its stooges to use nuclear weapons” on the peninsula. 

While the comments from Kang may have lust sounded like more saber-rattling from the North Korean regime they did reveal the increasing tensions between Pyongyang and its perceived enemies following the relative calm in relations enjoyed under Donald Trump's unorthodox diplomacy. 

On July 21st, 2023, South Korea’s Defense Minister warned Pyongyang that Washington and Seoul had made it clear that “any nuclear attack on the alliance will face an immediate, overwhelming and decisive response,” according to a statement quoted by France 24. 

North Korea's threat of nuclear war in July 2023 amounted to little but tensions on the peninsula haven't subsided. Things have only gotten worse between the allies in the area and Pyongyang following more missile tests and a rocket launch that saw North Korea send spy satellites into orbit.

On April 1st, 2024, North Korea vowed to continue sending spy satellites into space and reaffirmed its plans to launch several more reconnaissance satellites to orbit following its first successful launch in November 2023 according to the South Korean outlet Yonhap News Agency.

"The successful launch of the reconnaissance satellite Malligyong-1 last year has brought about substantial progress in national defense capabilities and several launches are expected for this year as well," explained Vice Director of North Korea's National Aerospace Technology Administration Pak Kyong-su according to a quote from the Korean Central News Agency republished by Yonhap News Agency.