SEOUL-- Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday rejected as untrue a news report alleging South Korea's involvement in a secret Taiwanese project to build submarines.

Reuters reported at least seven nations, including the United States and Britain, have been involved in building a submarine fleet in Taiwan in the face of a growing military threat from China.

It singled out South Korea, Australia, India, Spain and Canada as countries that have sent engineers, technicians and former naval officers to assist in the project.

"It isn't true," a Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

Still, the official said the government has been looking into any "illegal transfers of information to Taiwan at the individual level."

Taiwan plans to build eight new submarines to add to its current four, according to Reuters.

The news agency quoted a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson as saying in response to its findings the countries concerned are "playing with fire, and those who play with fire will get burned themselves."

Source: Yonhap News Agency