N. Korea warns Japan’s nuclear ambitions must be stopped “at any cost”
The remarks from the unnamed official, reportedly part of Japan’s prime minister’s office and involved in shaping national security policy, were cited by Kyodo News last Thursday. The source said, “I think we should possess nuclear weapons,” and added, “In the end, we can only rely on ourselves,” emphasizing the perceived necessity for Japan to develop its own nuclear deterrent.
Pyongyang responded by accusing Tokyo of openly revealing its “ambition to possess nuclear weapons, going beyond the red line.” A statement from the director of North Korea’s Institute for Japan Studies, carried by the Korean Central News Agency, warned: “Japan's attempt to go nuclear must be prevented at any cost as it will bring mankind a great disaster.”
The unnamed North Korean official added, “This is not a misstatement or a reckless assertion, but clearly reflects Japan's long-cherished ambition for nuclear weaponization,” and cautioned that if Japan obtained nuclear arms, “Asian countries will suffer a horrible nuclear disaster and mankind will face a great disaster.”
The statement made no mention of North Korea’s own nuclear program, which began with an atomic test in 2006 in violation of UN resolutions. Pyongyang is believed to possess dozens of nuclear warheads and has repeatedly vowed to maintain its arsenal, citing the need to deter perceived threats from the United States and its allies.
In September, North Korea’s vice foreign minister Kim Son Gyong told the United Nations, “We will never give up nuclear which is our state law, national policy and sovereign power as well as the right to existence. Under any circumstances, we will never walk away from this position.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has also indicated willingness to engage in talks with Washington, but only on the condition that Pyongyang retains its nuclear arsenal.
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