SEOUL, July 21. /TASS/. If North Korea uses nuclear weapons against the alliance of South Korea and the US, it would be the end of that country, the South Korean Defense Ministry said on Friday.

"In the event of any North Korean nuclear attack against the South Korea-US alliance, it will face an immediate, overwhelming and decisive response from the alliance, and through this, (we) warn strongly again that (the attack) will result in the end of the North Korean regime," the ministry said in a statement.

The warning came after North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam issued a statement on July 20, saying that a call of a US nuclear submarine at the South Korean port of Busan could be a condition for Pyongyang to use nuclear weapons.

The USS Kentucky, a nuclear ballistic missile submarine called at the South Korean port of Busan this week as the South Korea-US Nuclear Consultative Group held its inaugural meeting. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol came onboard the submarine.

US President Joe Biden and his South Korean counterpart adopted the Washington Declaration in April, which sets forth steps to demonstrate deterrence capabilities. They include regular visits of US nuclear ballistic missile submarines, aircraft carriers and bombers to South Korea.