Rodong Sinmun Mocks Takaichi, Then Goes Silent
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- Takaichi Sanae was elected Japan's prime minister on October 21, 2025, and immediately became a target of North Korean state media criticism
- Rodong Sinmun had previously mentioned Takaichi twice before — in May 2013 (for rejecting the Murayama Statement on wartime apologies) and April 2017 (for visiting Yasukuni Shrine) — both times critically
- After Takaichi took office, North Korea's state newspaper ran a series of articles from November 3, 2025 through January 6, 2026, branding her 'markedly militaristic' and accusing the LDP of seeking to 'turn Japan into an unabashed war state'
- When Takaichi dissolved the House of Representatives and called a snap election, the Rodong Sinmun quoted a German newspaper comparing her to former UK PM Liz Truss, whose brief tenure ended amid fiscal turmoil
- Following the LDP's landslide election victory on February 8, 2026, Rodong Sinmun articles specifically about Takaichi ceased entirely, with later coverage only quoting Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov criticizing Japan's military buildup
- Niida Chikashi, a North Korean researcher and senior research fellow at the Miyatsuka Korea Institute, argued at a February 28 academic conference that Pyongyang had underestimated Takaichi and was caught by surprise by the election results
Why it matters: The Rodong Sinmun's sudden silence after the LDP landslide exposes a rare analytical miscalculation by North Korean media, which had openly predicted a Truss-style collapse. With Takaichi's military buildup agenda now backed by a stronger electoral mandate, Pyongyang loses a convenient 'unstable Japan' narrative it had been promoting in state media for months — and gains a more firmly entrenched conservative government next door.
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