N. Korea slams S. Korea-Japan military cooperation as 'self-destruction'
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, second from left, greets Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, second from right, ahead of their talks at the South Korean defense ministry headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul, June 28. Joint Press Corps
North Korea on Thursday denounced military cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo as "a foolish act of courting self-destruction."
The statement came from Kang Chol-su, section chief of North Korea's Institute of Enemy State Studies, in a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Kang argued the cooperation would do nothing to weaken North Korea's deterrence capabilities, saying there would "never be a change in the absolute mechanical structure of no retreat built in the Korean Peninsula by the strongest nuclear weapons state."
He pointed to the recent defense ministerial talks between Seoul and Tokyo, along with South Korea's jets refueling at a Japanese air base earlier this year, warning these developments "should not be overlooked."
According to Kang, the deepening security ties are laying the groundwork for a "logistics support agreement" that would let the two countries supply "each other with munitions, including ammunition, in contingency."
"Japan's security cooperation is precisely a confrontation cooperation targeting the DPRK," he said, calling it part of a broader effort to build a "triangular cooperation system" among the United States, South Korea and Japan. DPRK is the acronym of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
"It is also revealed in the fact that Japan and the ROK are talking about the 'importance of the U.S.-Japan-ROK cooperation,' deploying long-range missiles far beyond their defense sphere and attempting to possess nuclear-powered submarines," he added, referring to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea.
Such security cooperation only justifies Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, he insisted, arguing that North Korea building up its nuclear force and firmly asserting its status as a nuclear weapons state remains "the only way to defend peace and security."