North Korea vows response to US submarine's visit to South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed Tuesday to boost the country’s nuclear war capability and take other steps to protest the recent arrival of a nuclear-powered U.S. submarine in South Korea.

North Korea has repeatedly vowed to expand its nuclear arsenal, but the latest threat by Kim Yo Jong came after North Korea dialed up regional tensions by unveiling a uranium-enrichment facility and testing a new ballistic missile earlier this month.

In a statement carried by state media, Kim Yo Jong said that the submarine's visit “clearly reveals the frantic military and strategic attempt of the U.S.” She said North Korea’s nuclear war deterrent must be bolstered “both in quality and quantity continuously and limitlessly” in response.

“The U.S. strategic assets will never find their resting place in the region of the Korean Peninsula,” she said. “We will continue to inform that all the ports and military bases of the ROK are not safe places." ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, South Korea’s formal name.