ANKARA

The US-led trilateral security partnership AUKUS could turn the Asia-Pacific region into a "nuclear minefield," a North Korean analyst has warned.

The partnership between the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom is part of Washington’s efforts to expand and strengthen military blocs in the Asia-Pacific region, claimed Kang Jin Song, in an article carried in state media KCNA and Voice of Korea on Thursday.

"The Asia-Pacific is turning into a theatre of muscle-flexing and a touch-and-go nuclear minefield, and the ensuing immediate and prospective security burden has been heavily placed on the regional and international community," wrote Kang.

"Since its founding, it has been called a nuclear mine planted in the waters of the Asia-Pacific as ‘the Anglo-Saxon nuclear submarine alliance’ for seeking nuclear supremacy in the Asia-Pacific region by detouring the international nuclear non-proliferation system," he added.

The British and Australian defense ministers and US defense secretary have recently said they were considering cooperation with Japan on AUKUS Pillar II advanced capability projects, part of the security agreement focusing on technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing.

"The danger of Japan's participation in AUKUS is making the whole international community tense, not to mention the regional countries," said Kang.

However, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said earlier this month that there was no plan to expand AUKUS beyond the three countries.

AUKUS was formed on Sept. 15, 2021 as a trilateral security treaty for the Indo-Pacific region. It is primarily aimed at boosting deterrence against China, which the members say is becoming more assertive in the region.

The three AUKUS allies, along with Canada and New Zealand, are also members of the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing network.