Seoul, Nov 18
North Korea on Tuesday denounced the release of a joint fact sheet between South Korea and the United States on their trade and security agreements as "formulating" as policy their confrontational stance against Pyongyang, warning that the North will take countermeasures.

The North's warning came after Seoul and Washington released the document on Friday outlining the outcomes of two summits between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump in August and October. On the same day, the allies also issued a joint communique following their annual defense talks held in early November.

In a lengthy commentary carried by state media, North Korea denounced details of the joint fact sheet, particularly Seoul and Washington's commitment to completing denuclearization of the North and the US' formal approval of South Korea's push to build nuclear-powered submarines.

"The DPRK will take more justified and realistic countermeasures to defend the sovereignty and security interests of the state and regional peace, corresponding to the fact that the confrontational intention of the US and the ROK to remain hostile towards the DPRK was formulated as their policy once again," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and ROK is the acronym of South Korea's formal name, the Republic of Korea.

North Korea claimed the announcement of the summit agreements was "the most vivid manifestation" of the Trump administration's policy toward North Korea and denounced the US commitment with South Korea to achieving "complete denuclearisation" of the North, Xinhua news agency reported.

"This is an intensive expression of their confrontational will to deny the constitution of the DPRK to the last. It proves that their only option is confrontation with the DPRK," the North said.

North Korea also criticised Washington's approval of Seoul's push to acquire nuclear submarines as a "serious development" that destabilizes the security situation in the Asia-Pacific region and "causes the situation of impossible nuclear control in the global sphere."

"The ROK's possession of nuclear submarine is a strategic move for 'its own nuclear weaponisation' and this is bound to cause a 'nuclear domino phenomenon' in the region and spark a hot arms race," the KCNA said.

On the US expressing its support for South Korea's move to secure uranium enrichment and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing capabilities, North Korea denounced it as "laying a springboard for" Seoul to develop into a "quasi-nuclear weapons state."

The North's warning came as it has not responded to Trump's repeated proposal to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to resume stalled diplomacy with Pyongyang. Kim earlier said the North remains open to talks with the US if Washington does not demand North Korea's denuclearisation as precondition for dialogue.

North Korea slams Seoul-US fact sheet as formalising confrontational stance against Pyongyang