SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Calls are rising in South Korea to deploy a nuclear-powered submarine in response to an advance in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s technology of submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), but it would face oppositions from the United States as it can lead to nuclear armament in the region.
Rep. Chung Jin-suk, floor leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, said on Monday that the DPRK's SLBM became a serious threat to security in South Korea and Northeast Asia, asking military authorities to actively review special countermeasures such as the nuclear-powered submarine deployment.
Former Saenuri floor leader Won Yoo-chul appeared in a radio program saying that a nuclear-propelled submarine should be adopted to contain possible SLBM provocations from the DPRK.
He is leading a group of 23 Saenuri lawmakers who issued a statement on Sunday to call for the nuclear submarine deployment.
Such calls came after the DPRK test-fired a ballistic missile from a submarine off its east coast on Aug. 24. Seoul's military said the missile flew about 500 km toward Japan, surpassing the flight distance of 300 km which South Korean defense ministry regards as a success.
President Park Geun-hye instructed her senior secretaries on Monday to come up with realistic countermeasures against the DPRK's advancing nuclear and missile capabilities, boosting speculation on Seoul's push for a nuclear submarine.
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