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Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accused Japan on Wednesday of accelerating its transformation into a "war state." Her statement, carried by North Korean state media, condemned Tokyo's increasing military spending, defense pacts, and deployment of missile launchers to its outer islands. She specifically pointed to Japan's recent test-firing of Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles and its participation in U.S.-led drills in the Philippines as evidence of "dangerous military moves" in the Pacific, supported by Washington. Kim stated that Pyongyang would not be a "passive onlooker" to Japan's military evolution, which she warned could pose a grave threat. Japan's defense ministry declined to comment directly on Kim's remarks but asserted that the country's defense capabilities are strictly for self-defense, within the scope of its pacifist constitution and international laws, and are not intended to threaten other nations. The ministry confirmed Japan's first Tomahawk experiment and its plan to acquire up to 400 such missiles by fiscal year 2027. The exchange highlights ongoing tensions, exacerbated by Japan's post-World War II shift away from its pacifist status and historical grievances stemming from Japan's colonial occupation of Korea.

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Japan, a war criminal state, is accelerating its transformation into a war state.