North Korea on Monday denounced Japan’s move to revise its three key national security documents aimed at strengthening defense capabilities and increasing defense spending, calling it “a blatant challenge to international peace and humanity.”
In an article carried by the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, the North claimed Japan’s push to revise the documents was an attempt to become “a war state and war merchant, in order to realize their century-old ambition for reinvasion.”
It said the revisions would center on increased defense spending, the removal of restrictions on arms exports and a major buildup of offensive military capabilities.
“It goes without saying that the purpose of focusing on the export of lethal weapons is not simply to make money, but to revive the military industry and enhance the war-fighting capabilities of the Self-Defense Forces,” the newspaper said.
The article warned that Japan’s actions would face “merciless counteraction from an enraged international community,” accusing Tokyo of using the current turbulent international situation as an opportunity to pursue its “aggressive ambitions.”
The government of Sanae Takaichi is pushing to revise Japan’s three major security documents — the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy and the Defense Buildup Program — within the year, in an apparent response to China’s growing maritime assertiveness in the Pacific.
cheesuk@heraldcorp.com
