The state news agency reported on Sunday that the spokesman for the North’s Foreign Ministry spoke at length about the question posed by KCNA.
“The facts clearly show that the real purpose of the US spreading rumors about the ‘threat from North Korea’ is to create an excuse to gain military superiority over the Asia-Pacific region,” the spokesman said. Binh Duong.
The current situation further calls for building up the country’s defenses to proactively deal with the rapid aggravation of the security environment, the spokesman added.
US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol met on the sidelines of a NATO summit last week and agreed that the progress of their nuclear and missile programs North Korea poses serious threats not only to the Korean peninsula but also to East Asia and the world.
North Korea this year has conducted missile tests at an unprecedented rate, and is believed by some to be preparing for another nuclear test.
“The deterrence capabilities of the Japan-US and the US-ROK alliance need to be upgraded as part of an essential effort to strengthen the tripartite partnership between Japan, the United States and South Korea,” Kishida said.
Relations between Japan and South Korea have long been strained by memories of Japan’s occupation of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
Relations have been at their worst in years under South Korea’s predecessor, Moon Jae-in, with disputes over territory and history and the two nations having signed an intelligence-sharing pact. Yoon, though, has expressed a desire to repair the relationship, and Kishida also seems to respond favorably.
