North Korea has pledged to take action against Tokyo’s “wrong and dangerous choice” to strengthen its defense sector and condemned Japan’s planned military buildup.
The North Korean foreign ministry issued the statement on Tuesday just a few days after Japan unveiled a new $320 billion security strategy that outlined plans for Japan’s military to mount “counter-strike capabilities” and respond to the threats posed by China, Russia, and North Korea.
Japan’s five-year military strategy will make it the third largest military spender in the world, after the United States and China.
A spokesperson for Pyongyang’s foreign ministry stated in a report published by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that Japan’s new security strategy effectively formalizes a “new aggression policy” and fundamentally alters the security environment of East Asia.
The spokesperson stated that North Korea “will continue to show how concerned and displeased we are with practical action” in response to Japan’s move to “realise unjust and excessive ambition.”
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The spokesperson criticized the United States for “exalting and instigating Japan’s rearmament and re-invasion plan” and said Washington had no right to criticize Pyongyang’s efforts to strengthen its own defenses.
This year, North Korea has launched a record number of ballistic missiles, including missiles that can carry nuclear payloads and have ranges that could reach the US mainland as well as its allies South Korea and Japan.
On Monday, North Korea claimed that it had made progress in its efforts to acquire a spy satellite by launching a test satellite and releasing low-resolution, black-and-white photographs that showed a view of Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and the nearby city of Incheon from space.
According to the South Korean Yonhap news agency, some analysts in South Korea thought the images were too crude to be satellite images.
On Tuesday, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, retaliated against that criticism by stating that evaluating her nation’s satellite capabilities solely on the basis of those two images was “inappropriate and hasty.”
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She stated that Pyongyang’s efforts to create a spy satellite were a “pressing priority directly linked to our security,” and that imposing additional sanctions on her nation would not halt such technological advancements.
She added that South Korea will “try hard to impose additional sanctions on us” and seek international support.
“However, given that our right to development and survival is in jeopardy, why are we afraid of sanctions, and why would we stop?”
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
