KB News Desk
Strategic cooperation between North Korea, China and Russia appears to be deepening: recent reports speculate Pyongyang and Moscow have increased military cooperation, while Pyongyang echoes its allies’ criticism of Japanese defense policies.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday claimed that Russia is preparing to bring as many as 50,000 more North Korean troops to join its war against Ukraine.
He also claimed that “North Korea’s weapons and combat experience are being enhanced through cooperation with Russia, posing a growing threat to countries in the region.”
North Korea has also openly joined China and Russia’s intensified criticism of Japan’s defense policies.
Beijing this month protested Tokyo’s latest Defense White Paper, accusing Japan of designating China as a threat and using regional tensions to justify its remilitarization. Moscow also criticized Japan’s military buildup in May, calling changes in Japan’s defense policies “a threat to global security.”
Similarly, North Korea recently slammed Japan for hinting at a reassessment of the Three Non-Nuclear Principles and making reported moves to rearm its military.
North Korea’s state-run newspaper the Rodong Sinmun published 11 articles and commentaries on Japan from Aug. 1 to 11. Three were the newspaper’s own reports, while the other eight relayed criticism made by spokespersons for China’s Foreign and Defense ministries. Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, also issued an anti-Japan statement Wednesday, bringing the total to 12.
The Rodong Sinmun’s three self-produced pieces focused heavily on Japan’s nuclear policy.
An Aug. 2 article accused Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi of showing “nuclear ambitions,” citing his remarks that discussions were open for renewed nuclear policies that will allow Japan to station nuclear weapons within the country.
A commentary published Sunday dismissed Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara’s pledge to uphold the non-nuclear principles as “deception,” claiming the Japanese government had only put him forward to calm the opposition towards the country’s alleged nuclear ambitions.
On Tuesday, a North Korean commentator called Japan’s Defense White Paper a document “aimed at legalizing the operation of its war machine for reinvasion.”
The other eight reports delivered Chinese criticism of Japan, covering disputes over historical distortion, the non-nuclear principles, Japan’s establishment of a national intelligence agency, the Defense White Paper’s portrayal of China as a threat and Tokyo’s expansion of long-range strike capabilities.
On Aug. 5, Kim criticized a Tomahawk long-range cruise missile test launch by a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force Aegis destroyer, describing it as a test of a weapon capable of placing North Korea and neighboring countries within striking range. She warned that “Pyongyang will not stand on its hands.”
Experts and South Korean government officials view the converging rhetoric of Beijing, Moscow and Pyongyang as an effort to pressure Japan, who plays a pivotal role in the military cooperation forged between South Korea, the United States and Japan.
