The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un accused Japan of “transforming into a war state” as Tokyo steps up its military build-up.
In a statement published in the state media, Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, expressed scepticism about Japan’s military build-up, stating that the country would react accordingly, warning that something “unpleasant” would happen in the event that Japan decided to take “deadly weapons into its hands.”
Pyongyang’s “leadership will establish additional military options, which are clearly a response to Japan’s transformation. Japan, a war-criminal state, is accelerating its transformation into a war-mongering state,” said her statement published by the Korean Central News Agency.
Test launches of long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles in Tokyo and the joint May exercises led by the US in the Philippines clearly demonstrate the magnitude of Japan’s involvement in Washington’s defence strategy, according to North Korea.
Tokyo is moving “to establish the capability for pre-emptive strikes. We will never stand idly by as Japan’s military capabilities evolve in a way that may pose a grave threat,” she said. “If the descendants of militarism, who have inherited the genes of cunning and aggression, have seized deadly weapons, something unpleasant will happen,” she added.
Japan’s once-pacifist stance is shifting toward to a more militarised one, as last year Tokyo increased its defence spending by 9.7% to $62.2 billion, equivalent to 1.4% of GDP and the highest figure since 1958. Japan’s defence minister said on Tuesday that the military needs to be strengthened with a “sense of urgency and crisis” due to threats from China, Russia and North Korea.
Relations with China also soured after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made statements suggesting that China’s actions to seize Taiwan could provoke a response from Japan. Beijing, for its part, expressed concerns about Tokyo’s path towards militarisation.
