Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, is seen in this July 31, 2023 photo. Yonhap
North Korea warned Wednesday it will consider "additional military options" in response to what it called Japan's ambitions to return to a "war criminal state," denouncing the United States for allowing Tokyo to pursue rearmament.
Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, made the remarks in a statement issued by state media, citing the recent moves by Japan, such as a test-firing of Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles and its participation in U.S.-led military drills in the Philippines, as evidence of Tokyo's broader push for military expansion.
"Japan, a war criminal state, is accelerating its transformation into a war state, taking advantage of the acute and variable trend of the present international situation in which global geopolitical conflicts and inter-camp confrontation are getting fiercer," Kim said in the statement released by the Korean Central News Agency.
"Such military actions prove that Japan's moves to formulate the possession of the capability for preemptive attack ... are entering the stage of the actual act," she said.
