Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, second from left, greets Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, second from right, ahead of their talks at the South Korean defense ministry headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul, June 28. Joint Press Corps
North Korea on Thursday denounced military cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo as "a foolish act of courting self-destruction."
The statement came from Kang Chol-su, section chief of North Korea's Institute of Enemy State Studies, in a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Kang argued the cooperation would do nothing to weaken North Korea's deterrence capabilities, saying there would "never be a change in the absolute mechanical structure of no retreat built in the Korean Peninsula by the strongest nuclear weapons state."
He pointed to the recent defense ministerial talks between Seoul and Tokyo, along with South Korea's jets refueling at a Japanese air base earlier this year, warning these developments "should not be overlooked."
