North Korea decried a United States-Japan missile deal, saying it added “strategic instability” to the region.
During a visit to Tokyo on Sunday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth agreed with Japanese officials to accelerate the development of the AIM-120 air-to-air missile system. The North Korean state news agency KCNA quoted an unnamed vice general director in the country’s defense ministry who said the development served as a provocation because the system could be used in a preemptive strike.
“The joint production of ultra-modern weapons pursued by the US and Japan is adding a new element of strategic instability to the Asia-Pacific region, bringing ominous dark clouds,” the general said.
The general then commented on North Korea’s enduring hatred of Japan, which was brought about by Japan’s colonization and abuse of the peninsula during the Meiji period through World War II.
“The U.S. has connived at and encouraged Japan’s moves toward a military giant since the last century. It has sharply expanded the application range of the US-Japan security treaty, which was limited to ‘contingency in Japan,’ to space and cyber fields, to say nothing of ‘contingencies in areas surrounding Japan,’ in recent years,” the general said, further voicing criticism of the U.S.’s backing of Japan’s “counterattack capability” and provision of long-range weapons such as the Tomahawk cruise missile.
He also said the U.S.-Japan military alliance was “turning into an attack-oriented and aggressive one from A to Z.”
“The DPRK’s efforts to apply the most appropriate solution to control and manage the military tension in the region will continue, and Washington’s and its servants’ attempt to hold military hegemony will never be allowed,” the general concluded.
NORTH KOREA VOWS TO ‘UPDATE AND STRENGTHEN’ NUCLEAR CAPABILITIES
The purpose of Hegseth’s visit and the U.S. beefing up Japan’s military capabilities was to deter China from military aggression. North Korea’s offense over the measure showcased the problems that lie ahead for the relationship between the U.S. and North Korea.
North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump enjoyed good relations during Trump’s first term. However, the relationship between the two countries began to sour after a failed summit in 2019. Distracted by conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, Trump hasn’t turned his attention to North Korea, but the North Korean general’s remarks showed the countries’ relationship during Trump’s second term could be cooler than during his first.
