The United States has been warned by North Korea that it now has a “green light” to use a nuclear attack. The U.S. nuclear submarine’s appearance in South Korea is an excuse for North Korea to consider nuclear repercussions, according to Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam.

“I remind the U.S. military of the fact that 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 DPRK law on nuclear force policy,” Sun-nam said in a press statement carried by North Korea’s Central News Agency, as reported by South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.

War Planning: U.S. Nuclear Submarine Visits South Korea As Rulers Talk War

North Korean threats against the U.S. escalated 10 days ago when the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) alleged that U.S. Air Force jets violated airspace over the East Sea “several times.” Pyongyang said sending a U.S. nuclear submarine to the Korean peninsula would create a “very dangerous situation” bringing the region “closer to the threshold of nuclear conflict.” -Newsweek

North Korea sees the U.S. and South Korea as instigating an escalation of tensions. For the U.S., it appears to be just war as usual. On April 23, President Joe Biden and ROK President Yoon Suk Yeol discussed changing threats on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific region as both countries mark the 70th anniversary of their alliance.

“The actions taken by the U.S.-ROK alliance in the Washington Declaration and through the Nuclear Consultative Group are a prudent response to the DPRK’s escalatory and dangerous behavior, and further the alliance’s goal of promoting peace and stability in the region,” DOD spokesperson Lisa Lawrence also told Newsweek. “The DPRK’s continuing efforts to advance its unlawful nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities greatly undermine regional security and stability,” she said.