North Korea has announced it will pursue unspecified "additional military options" in response to Japan's expanding defense capabilities, accusing Tokyo of reviving the ambitions of a "war criminal state". The statement was made on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, by Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and was published by the official Korean Central News Agency.

Kim Yo-jong condemned Japan's military expansion, describing it as an accelerating transformation into a war state. She cited Tokyo's recent test-firing of a US-made Tomahawk long-range cruise missile and its participation in US-led military exercises in the Philippines as evidence of this shift. Kim warned that Japan's possession of pre-emptive strike capabilities poses a grave threat to global peace and security.

"War criminal state Japan’s possession of the capability for pre-emptive attack is a grave threat destroying global peace and security," Kim said. She added that North Korea would "make Japan feel that its security has been exposed to greater danger due to its greediness" and declared, "We should make it regret."

The statement also accused Japan of accelerating its transformation into a war state and warned that if the descendants of militarism, "who have inherited the genes of cunning and aggression," seize deadly weapons, "something unpleasant will happen."

Tokyo has been gradually moving away from its post-World War II pacifist stance by increasing military spending, strengthening defense pacts, and deploying missile launchers to its outer islands. Japan's defense minister emphasized the need to boost the military with a "sense of urgency and crisis" amid growing threats from China, Russia, and North Korea.

Kim Yo-jong's remarks underscore Pyongyang's ongoing denunciation of Japan's military buildup while justifying its own development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. North Korea has frequently portrayed closer security cooperation among the US, Japan, and South Korea as preparations for an invasion, a characterization rejected by Washington and its allies.

Sources