N. Korea warns of 'additional military options' over Japan's expanding defense buildup

Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, is seen in this July 31, 2023 photo. Yonhap

North Korea warned Wednesday it will consider "additional military options" in response to what it called Japan's ambitions to return to a "war criminal state," denouncing the United States for allowing Tokyo to pursue rearmament.

Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, made the remarks in a statement issued by state media, citing the recent moves by Japan, such as a test-firing of Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles and its participation in U.S.-led military drills in the Philippines, as evidence of Tokyo's broader push for military expansion.

"Japan, a war criminal state, is accelerating its transformation into a war state, taking advantage of the acute and variable trend of the present international situation in which global geopolitical conflicts and inter-camp confrontation are getting fiercer," Kim said in the statement released by the Korean Central News Agency.

"Such military actions prove that Japan's moves to formulate the possession of the capability for preemptive attack ... are entering the stage of the actual act," she said.

Kim accused the U.S. of throwing its weight behind Japan's efforts and encroaching upon the security interests of other countries by using Japan and South Korea as a "shock brigade" in the Asia-Pacific region.

"We will never remain a passive onlooker to the military evolution of Japan, which may pose a grave threat to the security of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," she said, referring to her country by its official name.

"I make it clear upon authorization that the armed forces of the DPRK and the military leadership will set up additional military options, which are obviously due to Japan's transformation of these days," she said.