How much is Japan reportedly considering spending on defense over the five years starting in April 2027?

Reuters reported that Japan was considering a total of 70 trillion to 80 trillion yen for the five-year period beginning in April 2027. The lower figure was reported as equivalent to $444 billion, and the range was about 1.8 times the amount set under the current plan.

Why did the North Korean researcher argue Japan did not need to worry about its security?

The researcher said Japan should properly address its history, clearly settle its past crimes and seek peace with neighboring countries. He argued that if Japan did so and refrained from further wrongdoing, it would have no need to worry about its security.

N. Korea says Japan's push to raise defense spending will only burden its people

Q: What did North Korea say Japan’s planned defense spending increase would do to its economy and people?

The KCNA commentary said the increase would darken prospects for Japan’s economic recovery and impose heavy hardships on its people. It argued that the spending would not improve Japan’s security environment.

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Summary

North Korea criticized Japan’s push to increase defense spending on Friday, saying it would burden the Japanese people and darken prospects for economic recovery. A researcher at the North’s Institute for Japan Studies made the criticism in an article carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The remarks followed reports that Tokyo was considering raising defense spending to 70 trillion to 80 trillion yen over the five years starting in April 2027. The researcher said the increase would worsen Japan’s security situation rather than improve it.

Key Facts

Reuters reported that the proposed 70 trillion to 80 trillion yen total would be about 1.8 times the amount set under Japan’s current five-year plan, which began in fiscal 2023.
The reported spending range was equivalent to $444 billion at the lower end.
The North Korean researcher called Japan’s move to bolster defense spending an “anachronistic calculation.”
The article said Japan had been moving away from its defense-oriented policy amid an increasingly assertive China and a muscle-flexing North Korea.
Japan colonized the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

By Yonhap

Published Nov 6, 2026 10:00 am KST

Japan's Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi listens during the ASEAN+1 Defense Ministers' Informal Meeting with Japan in Cebu, central Philippines, Oct. 28. AP-Yonhap

North Korea on Friday criticized Japan's push to increase defense spending, saying it will darken prospects of Japan's economic recovery and impose "heavy hardships" on its people.

In an article carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a researcher at the Institute for Japan Studies under the North's foreign ministry, issued the criticism, following reports that Tokyo is considering nearly doubling its defense expenditures over the next five years.

The North has long responded sensitively to Japan's military reinforcement plans, arguing they could worsen a regional arms race, heighten military tensions and bring back memories of Tokyo's past militarism. Japan colonized the Korean Peninsula from 1910-1945.

"What is clear is that the increase in military expenditure will not only darken the prospect of the recovery of the Japanese economy but also impose heavy hardships on the people, far from improving Japan's security environment," the KCNA said.

The researcher decried Japan's move to bolster defense spending as an "anachronistic calculation," saying it would only worsen the country's security situation.

"If Japan, a war criminal state, approaches history properly, clearly settle its past crimes and seeks peace with the neighboring countries without doing anything sinful again, it has no need to worry about its security," he said.

In the face of an increasingly assertive China and a muscle-flexing North Korea, Japan has been doubling down on its plans for heavier armament in a departure from its defense-oriented policy.

Reuters reported Monday that Japan is considering increasing its defense spending for the five years starting in April 2027, which it said would be set at 70 trillion yen ($444 billion) to 80 trillion yen, up about 1.8 times from the figure set under the current five-year plan, which began in the fiscal year 2023.

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