TOKYO: Kim Sul-hwa, a researcher at the Japanese Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, has suggested that Japan is going down a dangerous road with its plans to collaborate with NATO.

In an article published by the Korean Central News Agency, Kim said, “Unprecedented military collusion between Japan and NATO has aroused great concern and caution in the international community.”

Kim cites Japan’s plan to establish the first NATO liaison office in Asia as it is “forced to reconsider its regional security,” notably with its persistent calls for a free and independent Indo-Pacific. 

“Japan will establish an independent Permanent Mission to NATO, regularly participate in meetings hosted by NATO, including the North Atlantic Council meeting, and expand the scope of security cooperation with NATO to outer space and cyberspace,” Kim said. “What cannot be overlooked is that behind this worrying relationship between Japan and NATO is the dark shadow of the United States.”

Kim says, the United States “is desperate to pursue a hegemonic position [and] has become even more desperate than ever to create new military alliances as its position in the Asia-Pacific region has been greatly shaken in recent years.”

Kim criticizes security alliances such as AUKUS, the Quad and Five Eyes as anti-China and anti-Russia entities that want to attract “follower powers such as Japan and South Korea into an exclusive security cooperation body and connect it with NATO to form a single unit.” He also states that Japan wants to become a military superpower.

“The more Japan strengthens its military collusion and collusion with NATO, which is synonymous with war and confrontation, the more it destroys the peace and stability of the region and invites the instability and irreversible isolation of the Japanese archipelago,” Kim says.