North Korea’s foreign ministry calls Japan’s new $320 billion security strategy ‘wrong and dangerous’, promises response.
North Korea has condemned Japan’s planned military build-up and hit out against what it described as Tokyo’s “wrong and dangerous choice” to bolster its defense sector.
Tuesday’s statement from North Korea’s foreign ministry came just days after Japan unveiled a new $320 billion security strategy that calls for boosting “retaliatory strike capabilities” for Japan’s military and China, Russia and North Korea. A plan to respond to threats posed by Korea has been outlined. ,
Japan’s comprehensive, five-year military strategy will make the country the world’s third-largest military spender behind the United States and China.
A spokesman for Pyongyang’s foreign ministry said in a report published by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that Japan’s new security strategy effectively formalizes the “new aggression policy” and the security environment of East Asia. fundamentally changes.
In response to Japan’s move to “realize unjustified and excessive ambition,” the spokesman said, North Korea “will continue to show how concerned and unhappy we are with practical action.”
The spokesman criticized the US for “increasing and provoking Japan’s rearmament and re-invasion plans”, and said Washington had no right to take issue with Pyongyang’s efforts to strengthen its own defenses.
North Korea’s efforts to upgrade military capabilities have included launches of a record number of ballistic missiles this year, including missiles capable of carrying nuclear payloads and missiles of varying ranges that are aimed at the US mainland and allies South Korea and South Korea. Can reach Japan.
North Korea claimed progress on Monday in its efforts to acquire a spy satellite, saying it had launched a test satellite and released low-resolution, black-and-white photos that showed a view from space of the South Korean capital Seoul. scene, and the nearby city of Incheon.
According to the South Korean Yonhap news agency, some South Korean analysts said the images were too crude for satellite images.
North Korea hit back at that criticism on Tuesday, with Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying it was “unfair and hasty” to assess her country’s satellite capabilities from those two photos.
He said Pyongyang’s efforts to develop spy satellites were a “priority directly linked to our security”, adding that additional sanctions on his country would not prevent such technological advances.
He said South Korea would seek international support and “do its best to impose additional sanctions on us”.
“But, with our right to existence and development being threatened, why are we afraid of sanctions… and why should we stop?”
