Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has cautioned that Pyongyang will consider additional military options following Japan’s recent test-launch of an American-made Tomahawk cruise missile.
In a statement published Wednesday by the state news agency KCNA, Kim asserted that the Japanese armed forces are shifting away from a defense-oriented posture to become a regional force equipped for preemptive strikes.
Pointing to the Tomahawk launch conducted from the Aegis destroyer Chokai in the Pacific, along with other missile trials and Tokyo’s involvement in American-led joint war games in the Philippines this past May, she stated that North Korea’s reaction would ensure Japan realizes its national security faces elevated peril.
“We should make it regret,” she declared, delivering some of her sharpest criticism aimed at Tokyo in recent times.
She further accused Washington of facilitating Tokyo’s military expansion by providing Tomahawk missiles, reconfiguring naval vessels to support them, and assisting with test operations.
“The US is behind such dangerous military moves of Japan,” she stated.
The statement adds to a growing series of North Korean communications targeting defense coordination between the United States, South Korea, and Japan.
KCNA has released a minimum of six commentaries and opinion pieces since July, alleging that these combined defense operations destabilize the region and escalate friction across the Korean Peninsula.
Security experts suggest Pyongyang is highlighting Tokyo’s military upgrades as an immediate threat to validate its ongoing nuclear and missile programs.
