North Korea denounces US, Japan's pledge to co-produce missiles on Hegseth visit

2/4/2025 11:57

North Korea criticised a recent agreement by Japan and the United States on co-producing air-to-air missiles as aggravating regional security risks and another example of Washington's push to militarize Japan.



State news agency KCNA said, at a time the United States is upgrading its military command in Japan, the two countries' cooperation in munitions production clearly has military and aggressive intentions aimed at countries in the region.



The comments were attributed to an unnamed vice general director of the North's defence ministry and did not name specific countries.



But the official referred to the AIM-120 air-to-air missile system that the United States and Japan have agreed to accelerate co-producing during U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's visit to Tokyo on Sunday.



Advancing the deployment of such a weapon used by aircraft involved in frequent military drills in the region that already pose a grave security threat adds a "new element of strategic instability to the Asia-Pacific region," the official said.