SEOUL: Nuclear-armed North Korea has warned Tokyo against “imminent self-destruction” for siding with Washington, as tensions soar after Pyongyang fired a missile over Japan.
The North set off global alarm Tuesday when it fired an intermediate-range missile over the Asian island nation, triggering condemnation from world leaders including the US and Japan.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe denounced the launch as an “unprecedented, serious and grave threat” and agreed with US President Donald Trump to “further strengthen pressure against North Korea.”
The North’s official KCNA news agency decried the former colonial power in a commentary, saying: “Japan has now come out with its sleeves rolled up in supporting its master’s anti-DPRK war moves.”
The allies’ “military nexus” had become a “serious threat” to the Korean peninsula and Japan was “unaware” it was “accelerating self-destruction,” the statement late Wednesday said.
It made a specific reference to US forces being based in Hokkaido — the island that the North’s missile flew over.
“The DPRK’s toughest countermeasures include a warning to Japan going wild, being unaware of its imminent destruction,” and blindly following the US, it added.
Pyongyang has warned of more similar tests to come.
The authorities in North Korea are highly nationalistic and promote resentment of the US and Japan as part of their claim to legitimacy.
KCNA said earlier that the missile launch was timed to mark the 107th anniversary of the “disgraceful” Japan-Korea treaty of 1910, under which Tokyo colonized the Korean peninsula.
North Korea warns Japan of ‘imminent self-destruction’
North Korea warns Japan of ‘imminent self-destruction’
North Korea says it respects Iran’s choice of new supreme leader: KCNA
- North Korea, a longstanding US adversary, has previously condemned the US-Israeli attack on Iran an “illegal act of aggression”
- Defying US President Donald Trump’s desire to have a say in who runs Iran, the Islamic republic on Sunday named Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father, longtime ruler Ali Khamenei, who died in an Israeli airstrike on February 28
SEOUL: North Korea respects Iran’s choice of new supreme leader, state media reported Wednesday, as it accused the United States and Israel of destroying regional peace.
“With regard to the recent official announcement that Iran’s Assembly of Experts elected the new leader of the Islamic Revolution, we respect the rights and choice of the Iranian people to elect their supreme leader,” an unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by state news agency KCNA.
Defying US President Donald Trump’s desire to have a say in who runs Iran, the Islamic republic on Sunday named Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father, longtime ruler Ali Khamenei, who died in an Israeli airstrike on February 28.
North Korea, a longstanding US adversary, has previously condemned the US-Israeli attack on Iran an “illegal act of aggression.”
On Wednesday, the North Korean spokesperson reiterated that position, saying that the United States and Israel “are destroying the regional peace and security foundations and escalating instability worldwide.”
“Any rhetorical threats and military action, which violate the political system and territorial integrity of the relevant country, interfere in its internal affairs and openly advocate the attempt to overthrow its social system, deserve worldwide criticism and rejection as they can never be tolerated,” the spokesperson added.
In recent months, the Trump administration has mounted a push to revive high-level talks with Pyongyang, eyeing a potential summit between the US president and the North’s Kim Jong Un this year.
After largely ignoring those overtures for months, Kim recently said that the two nations could “get along” if Washington accepted Pyongyang’s nuclear status.
