Pyongyang: North Korea on Tuesday denounced Japan's latest defense white paper, calling it an attempt to justify the country's military buildup and describing it as legal basis for "the operation of war machine."
According to Yonhap News Agency, Kang Won-chol, an international security analyst, made the claims in an article published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and the Rodong Sinmun, the most widely read newspaper in the North. Kang said the white paper came out at a time when "Japan has been rushing headlong into militarization, seized with an ambition for reinvasion."
He argued Japan had "groundlessly" described North Korea as a "serious and imminent threat" in the white paper to justify its "reckless" military buildup. Kang criticized Japan for labeling threats from neighboring countries in the white paper while tightening its alliance with the U.S. and its followers, aiming to negate its past crimes and realize its ambition to become a military power.
Kang cited Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi's call for strengthening the country's military capabilities after the release of the white paper as evidence of Tokyo's push toward militarization. He claimed that Japan's intention for aggression is concealed as 'defense,' making it a root cause of endangering peace and escalating tensions in the region.
Kang further justified North Korea's own military buildup, arguing that strengthening its military capabilities was necessary to deter what it described as the hostile intentions of other countries.
Japan published its first defense white paper under the current Sanae Takaichi government last Tuesday. The paper called for military modernization, including the integration of cutting-edge technologies, such as drones and artificial intelligence, as well as closer cooperation with allies to address growing security concerns in the region.
An official at South Korea's unification ministry remarked that the ministry did not place much weight on what it described as Pyongyang's "annual" denunciation of Japan's defense white paper. The official noted the increasing volume of such criticism in recent days, including Pyongyang's escalating condemnation of trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the United States, and Japan.
The official stated, "We see it as Pyongyang's attempt to justify its nuclear weapons program and align itself with China and Russia," adding that the situation will be watched closely.