SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea threatened Tuesday to take a “resolute and decisive military step” against Japan while it slammed Tokyo’s adoption of a…
North Korea threatened Tuesday to take a “resolute and decisive military step” against Japan while it slammed Tokyo’s adoption of a national security strategy as an attempt to turn the country into “an offensive military giant.”
The North’s statement came four days after Japan announced a security strategy that includes a counterstrike capability against enemy targets and doubles its military spending to gain a more offensive footing against threats from China and North Korea.
The North’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Japan’s push to acquire counterstrike capability has nothing to do with self-defense but is a clear attempt to acquire “preemptive attack capability meant to launch strikes on other countries’ territories.”
“Japan’s foolish attempt to satiate its black-hearted greed — the building up of its military invasion capability under the pretext of (North Korea’s) legitimate exercise of the right to self-defense — cannot be justified and tolerated,” an unidentified ministry spokesperson said in a statement carried by state media.
