KCNA – the media mouthpiece for the North Korean regime – has issued a ranting as well as false statement accusing Japan of “crafty military actions” and “getting on the war chariot driven by the US and to realise the dream of reinvasion of Korea.”
The statement added that Japan and Britain had agreed to form a “semi-ally” relationship in order to “strengthen cooperation for mutual defence”.
It said that Japan and Britain had recently held “2+2” meetings of foreign ministers and defence ministers where they discussed the issue of “agreement on status of dispatched units”.
They also identified the issue of stepping up the research into a medium-range missile to be mounted on fighters which the two countries had carried out as a common project for three years and thus produce a trial missile which will be miniaturised with a long-range strike capability.”
However a MoD spokesman flatly denied any knowledge of such an agreement when contacted by Express.co.uk.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman also flatly denied any agreement had been made although added that joint talks between the two countries’ foreign and defence ministers were due to take place “shortly” – before Christmas – however stated that as the talks had not yet taken place nothing had been agreed.
KCNA also went on to accuse “the Japanese reactionaries” of various actions, including attempting to “inveigle” other countries into joining in with military action against North Korea, making territorial claims and using the pretext of “aid” as a way of conducting “military operations”.
The communique concluded with a chilling prophesy: “Japan should face up to the situation and should not run amuck.
“If it opts for invasion, in cooperation with overseas aggression forces including the US, it will only face self-destruction.”
The statement followed after Japan said that it would arms its fighter jets with the latest air-to-surface missiles in response to the growing threat of North Korea, as tensions across the region continue to escalate.
Defence secretary Itsunori Onodera revealed today the money would be spent on equipping the Japanese air force with high-tech missiles from the United States.
The weapons have a range of 560 miles, which would allow pilots to target the whole of North Korea while flying safely over the Sea of Japan.
The move by Japan is not insignificant as the country’s constitution, imposed by the US after World War 2, which states the country can only use its forces for self defence.
Mr Onodera said that Japan would continue to uphold its defence-only policy.
He said: “We will introduce them as standoff missiles that allow us to deal with our opponents from outside the range of threats.”
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told lawmakers North Korea’s continued missile tests were an “imminent threat” to the safety of Japan, and attempting to negotiate with the hermit state was pointless.