The submarine could significantly escalate security concerns on the Korean peninsula and in the Taiwan Strait, experts say North Korea's construction of a nuclear-powered submarine could significantly escalate security concerns on the peninsula and in the Taiwan Strait,

In a statement issued via state media on Monday, the North Korean Foreign Ministry called the Freedom Shield drills "a dangerous provocative act of leading the acute situation on the Korean peninsula, which may spark off a physical conflict between the two sides by means of an accidental single shot, to the extreme point."

North Korea has conducted a slew of underwater-launched ballistic missile tests since 2016, but all launches were made from the same 2,000-tonne-class submarine which has a single launch tube. Many experts call it a test platform, rather than an operational submarine in active service.

North Korea has issued a sharp rebuke over the major military exercise being carried out by the U.S. and its South Korean ally, labeling the training a "war rehearsal." Newsweek reached out to the Pentagon and the South Korean embassy in the U.

North Korea denounced joint military drills between the US and South Korea saying the South Korean Air Force’s recent bombing mistake shows the risk of the region unintentionally getting dragged into a new armed conflict.

North Korea fired several ballistic missiles into the sea on Monday in what was the latest display of the communist country’s military capabilities. The missile launches were reportedly in response to the joint military drills conducted in the region between the U.