Pyongyang’s Manufactured Outrage Over Japan’s Defence Reality

The spectacle of an isolated, heavily armed autocracy lecturing a democratic neighbour on the virtues of pacifism is a familiar staple of East Asian diplomacy. Pyongyang has once again seized the opportunity to play the aggrieved victim, this time directing its ire at Tokyo’s long-overdue defence modernisation. According to North Korean state media, Kim Yo Jong—the increasingly vocal sister of Kim Jong Un—has issued a stark warning regarding Japan’s departure from its post-war military constraints.

The catalyst for Pyongyang’s latest bout of theatrical anger is a highly pragmatic shift in Japanese security policy. Tokyo recently confirmed its first test-firing of Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles and participated in United States-led military exercises in the Philippines. More fundamentally, Japan is raising its military expenditure by 9.7 percent to $62.2 billion for 2025. At 1.4 percent of gross domestic product, this represents the highest share allocated to defence since 1958. For a nation historically bound by a pacifist constitution, this is a substantial pivot, albeit one driven entirely by a deteriorating regional security environment.

Through the Korean Central News Agency, Kim Yo Jong characterised Tokyo’s defensive recalibration as a dangerous escalation. She stated that the North Korean "leadership will set up additional military options which are obviously due to Japan's transformation." The official release went on to label Japan a "war criminal state" that is rapidly accelerating its transition into a "war state" while seeking the capability for pre-emptive strikes.

Pyongyang is not alone in feigning shock at Tokyo’s military normalisation. Beijing, a crucial patron of the North Korean regime, has similarly condemned what it describes as a resurgence of Japanese militarism. Regional friction has notably intensified since Japan's hawkish new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, suggested that a Chinese move to seize Taiwan could necessitate a Japanese military response. Japan’s defence ministry recently justified its heightened readiness by citing growing security challenges posed by China, Russia, and North Korea, with the defence minister noting that the armed forces must be strengthened with a sense of urgency and crisis.

To amplify its narrative, the North Korean leadership routinely invokes the legacy of Japan’s colonial rule over the Korean peninsula, which ended with Tokyo's 1945 surrender. Official statements from Pyongyang warned that descendants of militarism seizing deadly weapons would lead to unpleasant consequences. Yet, the diplomatic irony is palpable. North Korea has aggressively expanded its own arsenal, declaring its nuclear status irreversible following the collapse of denuclearisation talks in 2019. Tokyo’s decision to finally invest heavily in its own defence is less a revival of imperial ambition than a rational calculation in a neighbourhood where nuclear threats have become the standard currency of statecraft.

Written by Martina Kirchner martina.kirchner@alpineweekly.com