North Korea, referring to recent calls in Japan for nuclear armament, said it "would foist a catastrophe on humanity" and called it a "provocative outburst."
On the 21st, the Korean Central News Agency reported that Japan is a "rogue state that can at any time realize nuclear armament and again light the fuse of a war of aggression."
The outlet said, "If nuclear weapons are placed in the hands of Japan, a war-crime state, a terrible nuclear holocaust will be forced upon the heads of Asian countries and humanity will face a catastrophe," adding, "It is necessary to firmly stop the extremely dangerous military rashness of the war-crime state Japan, which, with the United States at its back, is dashing toward nuclear armament."
Recently in Japan, claims have been raised about the need to possess nuclear weapons. Japanese media reported on the 18th that an official overseeing Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's security policy, speaking in a personal capacity, argued that "Japan should have nuclear weapons."
In response, North Korea said, "It is by no means a slip of the tongue or a claim born of a kind of bravado, but a blunt statement of Japan's long-cherished ambition for nuclear armament," adding, "It is a frontal challenge to Japan's constitution as well as to the various international laws that stipulate the obligations borne by a completely defeated country."