Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, on Wednesday warned Japan over its expanding military capabilities. in this March 2019 photo, Kim is seen in Hanoi, Vietnam. File Pool Photo by Jorge Silva/EPA-EFE
SEOUL, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned Wednesday that Pyongyang could adopt "additional military options" against Japan, accusing Tokyo of becoming a "war state" through its expanding military capabilities.
Kim made the remarks in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
"Japan, a war criminal state, is accelerating its transformation into a war state," she wrote, claiming that Tokyo was exploiting growing geopolitical tensions to boost its offensive military capacity.
She cited Japan's recent test-firing of U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missiles from a destroyer in the Pacific Ocean and its March deployment of long-range surface-to-ship missiles and high-speed gliding projectiles at bases in Kumamoto and Shizuoka prefectures as examples of Tokyo's changing military posture.
