North Korea says record-high Japan defence budget would risk 'turmoil'
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- North Korea's KCNA slammed Japan's reported record-high defense budget, accusing Tokyo of preparing for a 'war of aggression' even as the US seeks engagement with Pyongyang.
- Japan's defense ministry is seeking a budget of 8.9 trillion yen (~$56 billion) for the upcoming fiscal year, per broadcaster NHK and other Japanese media reports this week.
- KCNA warned the budget request 'clearly signifies a dangerous expansion of the war budget that will bring new turmoil to the region and the world,' and that the increase would 'lead to a buildup of military power to complete preparations for a war of aggression.'
- Japan has been gradually moving away from its post-World War II pacifist stance — increasing military spending, ramping up defense pacts, and deploying missile launchers to its outer islands.
- China, described in the source as a key North Korean ally, has expressed alarm at what it calls 'new militarism' by Japan, while PM Sanae Takaichi's administration undertakes a major update of Japan's national defense strategy.
- Japan's Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi reaffirmed the government's 'determination to continue fulfilling our responsibility to uphold Japan's postwar path as a peaceful nation' during a visit to a shrine honoring the country's war dead.
- The legacy of Japan's pre-1945 colonial occupation of Korea continues to weigh on the foreign policies of both North and South Korea, per the source.
Why it matters: Two of Japan's neighbors — North Korea and China, which the source itself labels allies — are now publicly denouncing the same 8.9 trillion yen budget as aggression, putting direct rhetorical pressure on Prime Minister Takaichi's defense strategy update and undercutting Defense Minister Koizumi's 'peaceful nation' framing in a single news cycle.
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