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North Korean institute says Japan aims to be ‘military superpower’

Min says Japan's munitions industry will be further enlarged in the future to allow the supply of military equipment with lethal capabilities, such as tanks, missiles, and fighter planes. (AFP)
Min says Japan's munitions industry will be further enlarged in the future to allow the supply of military equipment with lethal capabilities, such as tanks, missiles, and fighter planes. (AFP)
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23 Jan 2023 04:01:42 GMT9
23 Jan 2023 04:01:42 GMT9

Arab News Japan 

TOKYO: A researcher at the Foreign Ministry of North Korea’s Japanese Institute has criticized Japan’s moves to broaden its defensive capabilities and allow itself greater latitude in dealing with perceived overseas threats.

In a press release by Min Kyung-moo and sent to the international media in Tokyo, including Arab News Japan, he wrote that “Japan continues to make alarming moves as it pushes toward becoming a military superpower.”

He referred to the “Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment” that Japan plans to relax so that various arms and equipment can be exported overseas and joint development and production with other countries can begin in 2023.

Min says Japan’s munitions industry will be further enlarged in the future to allow the supply of military equipment with lethal capabilities, such as tanks, missiles, and fighter planes, to foreign countries. He says Japan has “completely disguised itself as a peace-loving nation.”

“Since the beginning of the 2010s, Japanese officials have continued to deceive the international community by trying to have it both ways on security-related issues,” he added. “In 2014, during the Abe Administration abolished the ‘Three Principles of Arms Exports,’ which in principle prohibited the export of weapons.”

“In 2014, the interpretation of the constitution was changed to allow the exercise of the ‘right of collective self-defense,’ and this formalized the possession of a counterattack capability which is in fact a pre-emptive strike capability in disguise.”

Min says the purpose of the changes was to nullify the anti-war Article 9 of Japan’s Constitution and solidify the legal framework by which Japan could go to war at any moment.

The North Korean researcher, however, said nothing about his country’s arsenal of missiles, nuclear weapons and threats to Japan, which are why Tokyo says it needs to enhance its defensive capabilities. 

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