North Korea Steps Up Criticism of Japan Amid Close Ties with China, Raising Questions on Intent to Keep Tokyo in Check

North Korea has been unleashing high-intensity criticisms day after day over Japan's potential review of its nuclear policy and military activities such as joint drills, raising the level of its offensive against Japan.

Analysts interpret this as an effort to solidify the North Korea-China-Russia solidarity by intensely keeping Japan in check, which has emerged as a core axis of the trilateral military cooperation among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a media outlet for external audiences, and the Rodong Sinmun, read by North Korean residents, have recently published a series of commentaries criticizing remarks by Japanese officials that hinted at the possibility of revising its nuclear policy, as well as statements reacting against Japan's military drills.

In a commentary released on June 25, the KCNA criticized the Japanese prime minister and defense minister's hinting at a possible review of the nuclear policy, stating, "Japan's revision of its nuclear policy is essentially the nuclear arming of a war criminal state."

Kim Yo-jong, department vice director of the Workers' Party of Korea and sister of leader Kim Jong Un, stepped forward to directly issue a statement, raising the intensity of the offensive.

In a statement on the 5th, Vice Director Kim reacted against the test-firing of U.S.-made long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, threatening that "(North Korea) will additionally establish clear military options corresponding to Japan's transformation."

And the next day, on the 6th, it launched a short-range ballistic missile toward the East Sea, which is believed to have already fallen outside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

In an article on the 2nd titled "Why is Japan Trying to Revise the 'Three Non-Nuclear Principles'?", the Rodong Sinmun warned, "The 'building a strong Japan' policy put forward by the Takaichi administration is, in essence, an attempt to turn Japan into a war state," adding, "Policy changes in the military field will inevitably plunge Japan into an inescapable abyss of ruin."

The Three Non-Nuclear Principles—"not possessing, not manufacturing, and not introducing nuclear weapons"—have been regarded as Japan's national creed for over half a century, but attention has been focused on the possible review of these principles in connection with the revision of the three security documents slated for within the year.

Although Japanese Government Spokesperson and Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara Minoru stated in a recent press conference that "the government maintains the Three Non-Nuclear Principles as a matter of policy," emphasizing the principled stance, the Rodong Sinmun claimed in a short commentary on the 9th that this position was released "to appease the domestic and foreign public," disparaging the intent by calling it "truly a petty trick."

Analysts suggest that the background behind North Korea launching such "selective criticism" against Japan while remaining indifferent toward the South is the result of aligned strategic interests between North Korea and China within the complex Northeast Asian geopolitical situation.

In particular, given that North Korea's criticism of Japan has become more frequent since leader Kim Jong Un's attendance at China's 80th-anniversary military parade for Victory Day and the North Korea-China summit in September of last year, the growing closer ties between Pyongyang and Beijing appear to have had a significant impact.

Some observers also predict that China will actively utilize North Korea to check the trilateral military cooperation between South Korea, the U.S., and Japan.

With the China-Russia summit also proclaiming a stance of joint response against trilateral military cooperation and the U.S. extended deterrence, interpretations suggest that North Korea is also stepping to the forefront of criticizing Japan in alignment with this stance, strongly opposing the closer ties between the U.S. and Japan as well as Japan's military grand-power ambitions.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.