Seoul, Feb 20 : North Korea on Thursday expressed outrage over the move by the United States to bolster another nuclear alliance in the Asia-Pacific region.

The US entered into a nuclear submarine deal with Australia under the AUKUS security partnership. This has rattled North Korea which denounced it as "a threat to regional peace".

"Washington should be wary of consequences" for nuclear alliances, like AUKUS and the trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan, a commentary carried by North Korean state-run media KCNA said.

North Korea further condemned Australia's first payment of $500 million to the United States under its plan to buy Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines under the trilateral AUKUS security partnership, according to media reports.

Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States announced the creation of an enhanced trilateral security partnership called AUKUS in 2021, which "reflects the continued commitment to support a free and open Indo-Pacific that is peaceful, secure, and stable".

North Korea also slammed the trilateral meeting between Japan, South Korea, and the US on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference 2025, where the foreign ministers of the three nations reaffirmed their resolute commitment to the complete denuclearisation of North Korea in accordance with the United Nations Security Council Resolutions.

A spokesperson for the North Korean Foreign Ministry, in a press statement, said: "The anachronistic and futile attempt to challenge the inviolable sovereignty and the prestige of North Korea will entail self-destructive results. The US is not yet awakened from the failed old dream of the 'denuclearisation' that dims in the memory of the present time."

'It is the official stand of the North Korean government that it is not worth consideration to counter the stand of the US escaping from reality and we condemn and reject the US action in the most resolute tone," the statement added.

North Korea declared to keep on bolstering up its nuclear forces to deter the US and its allies, the KCNA reported.

North Korean President Kim Jong-Un has never shied away from issuing nuclear threats against the United States and South Korea in case of a conflict. In October 2024, Kim threatened to destroy South Korea completely with nuclear weapons if attacked.

/IANS