Seoul, Sep 25 (IANS): A senior official of North Korea (officially DPRK) condemned a port call by a US nuclear submarine to Busan, South Korea, vowing to boost the country's nuclear deterrent capabilities in response, the state media reported.

Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, on Tuesday, lambasted the United States for sending a newly commissioned nuclear submarine to the Busan operation base, calling the move an intentional display of "superiority of strength," said a press statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Noting the security of North Korea is constantly exposed to the US nuclear threat and blackmail, the statement stressed that the country would bolster its nuclear deterrence capabilities both in quality and quantity "continuously and limitlessly" to counter external threats, reports Xinhua news agency, quoting KCNA.

According to a report by Yonhap News Agency citing South Korea's Navy, the USS Vermont, a nuclear-powered and fast-attack submarine, arrived at the naval base in Busan on Monday to replenish supplies and provide a rest for its crew. It marks the first visit by the Virginia-class attack submarine to South Korea since its commission in 2020.