PYONGYANG, September 29. /TASS/. The United States is undermining the international nuclear non-proliferation system and increasing the risks of a new arms race with its actions, North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a memorandum released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"The open US steps toward vertical and horizontal nuclear proliferation are destabilizing the cornerstones of the international non-proliferation regime and becoming a key factor threatening the world peace and security," the document reads.

Pyongyang mostly means the US nuclear force buildup and modernization under "vertical proliferation." The North Korean Foreign Ministry referred to the US efforts to develop the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental missile, B-21 strategic bombers, the Columbia class submarines, and the latest modifications of the B61 nuclear bomb as well as a planned Golden Dome missile defense system in the memorandum.

A separate section of the memorandum covers "horizontal proliferation." North Korea’s MFA accused Washington of transferring nuclear weapons technology to its allies, deploying nuclear attack means in foreign territories and developing extended deterrence mechanisms jointly with its European and Asian partners. It cited NATO, AUKUS, and cooperation with the Republic of Korea and Japan as examples.

Pyongyang will proceed from the need to protect its national interests and regional security, the North Korean Foreign Ministry emphasized. "The DPRK's option of action as a responsible nuclear weapons state will be strictly based on the grave reality in which no international body or treaty is deterring the US from bolstering up its nuclear power and going on its nuclear proliferation," the ministry concluded.