DPRK’s Kim Yo Jong: Japan Becoming War State

By Staff, Agencies

Japan is transforming into a "war state", Kim Yo Jong, Director of the General Affairs Department of the Workers' Party of Korea, stated on Wednesday, accusing Tokyo of continuing to bolster its military posture in the Pacific.

In a statement carried by DPRK state media, Kim said Pyongyang’s “leadership will set up additional military options which are obviously due to Japan’s transformation.” Her statement, published by the Korean Central News Agency, further asserted that “Japan, a war criminal state, is accelerating its transformation into a war state.”

Kim cited Tokyo’s recent test-firing of Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles and its participation in US-led drills in the Philippines in May as evidence of Washington’s support for “dangerous military moves” in the Pacific. She also said Tokyo is moving “to formulate the possession of the capability for preemptive attack,” adding, “We will never remain a passive onlooker to the military evolution of Japan which may pose a grave threat.”

The comments come as Japan has been gradually moving away from its post-World War II pacifist status, increasing military spending, ramping up defense pacts, and deploying missile launchers to its outer islands.

Japan's defense minister said Tuesday the military needs to be boosted with a “sense of urgency and crisis,” following a new government assessment that warned of growing threats from China, Russia and DPRK.

Japan occupied all of Korea before its 1945 surrender in the Second World War, after which the peninsula was divided into separate states along the 38th parallel. The legacy of the violent colonial period continues to weigh on the foreign policies of both Koreas.

In her statement, Kim warned “If the descendants of militarism, who have inherited the genes of cunning and aggression, have seized deadly weapons in their hands, something unpleasant will happen.”

Japan has hosted US military bases ever since its surrender in World War II. The nation raised its military expenditure by 9.7 percent to $62.2 billion in 2025, equivalent to 1.4 percent of GDP, its highest share since 1958.

China, a key ally of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, has also recently expressed alarm at what it sees as “new militarism” by Japan.