North Korea on Friday criticized Japan's push to increase defense spending, saying it will darken prospects of Japan's economic recovery and impose "heavy hardships" on its people.
In an article carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, a researcher at the Institute for Japan Studies under the North's foreign ministry, issued the criticism, following reports that Tokyo is considering nearly doubling its defense expenditures over the next five years.
The North has long responded sensitively to Japan's military reinforcement plans, arguing they could worsen a regional arms race, heighten military tensions and bring back memories of Tokyo's past militarism. Japan colonized the Korean Peninsula from 1910-1945.
"What is clear is that the increase in military expenditure will not only darken the prospect of the recovery of the Japanese economy but also impose heavy hardships on the people, far from improving Japan's security environment," the KCNA said.
The researcher decried Japan's move to bolster defense spending as an "anachronistic calculation," saying it would only worsen the country's security situation.
"If Japan, a war criminal state, approaches history properly, clearly settle its past crimes and seeks peace with the neighboring countries without doing anything sinful again, it has no need to worry about its security," he said.
In the face of an increasingly assertive China and a muscle-flexing North Korea, Japan has been doubling down on its plans for heavier armament in a departure from its defense-oriented policy.
Reuters reported Monday that Japan is considering increasing its defense spending for the five years starting in April 2027, which it said would be set at 70 trillion yen ($444 billion) to 80 trillion yen, up about 1.8 times from the figure set under the current five-year plan, which began in the fiscal year 2023. (Yonhap)
