N. Korea accuses Japan of building war capability, warns of 'enormous misfortune'
A soldier takes part in a joint military exercise with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, and the U.S. and Australian Armies at Sekiyama Training Area in Niigata prefecture, Japan, Sept. 19, 2025. AP-Yonhap
North Korea on Tuesday accused Japan of trying to build up "actual war capabilities" against Pyongyang, insisting its participation in a series of multilateral joint military exercises involving the United States is an attempt to secure such capabilities.
The accusation came in an article by Kang Won-chol, an international security affairs analyst, carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The article especially took issue with the deployment of the U.S. Typhon missile system in Japan.
"Japan, which has focused on deploying long-range strike means in recent years by lavishing a huge amount of money as military expenditure, resorts to bilateral and multilateral joint military exercises with the U.S. and its vassal forces more eagerly than ever," it said.
"This is a manifestation of their sinister scheme to round off its real war capabilities against the DPRK and other neighboring countries." DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.
The article came one day after Pyongyang's defense minister issued a statement condemning the ongoing Freedom Edge exercise involving South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, which began Monday, and the Orient Shield joint drills involving the U.S., Japan and Australia, which kicked off Tuesday.
Asserting that the drill codenamed Orient Shield is aimed at "strengthening solidarity for coping with various threats in East Asia," Japan has openly pursued military confrontation with other regional countries, the North Korean analyst claimed.
"All the facts prove once again that the only prescription for controlling the descendants of militarism who inherited the genes of aggression is to have overwhelming and unparalleled war deterrent," Kang added. "The attempt of the neo-militarists of Japan to turn the whole archipelago into an 'unsinkable aircraft carrier' will inevitably bring about enormous misfortune."