North Korea has issued a sharp rebuke of Japan’s development and planned deployment of long-range missiles capable of striking enemy bases, calling the move “an extremely dangerous idea” in an editorial published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
According to the report, North Korea criticized Tokyo’s intentions to position 1,000-kilometer-range missiles in Japan’s western Kumamoto Prefecture this year, with additional deployments planned for Oita and Okinawa by 2026. The editorial claims these actions are part of what it describes as Japan’s growing capability for preemptive attack.
The commentary alleges that Japan’s missile acquisition program is not purely defensive, as Japanese officials have stated, but instead aims to revive ambitions from the era of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. KCNA wrote that “these military movements are all intended to realize Japan’s preemptive strike capability.”
Despite North Korea’s own expansive missile development program—which includes cruise missiles based on Russian SS-1C Scud-B and SS-26 Stone designs and tested intercontinental ballistic missiles with ranges exceeding 1,500 kilometers—the regime accused Tokyo of moving toward an offensive posture. South Korean media have previously reported multiple North Korean missile tests exceeding this range.
The KCNA editorial argued that Japan is “getting closer to a situation where it can launch a war of aggression through military reinforcement and reorganization.” It warned that Japan’s military expansion could cross a threshold that leads to catastrophic consequences.
In one of the more pointed passages, the editorial declared: “The reality shows that Japan is obsessed with becoming a military power. A country responsible for past wars should not act recklessly. The day Japan triggers another invasion with its accelerating military build-up will be the day it steps into an irreversible hell.”
The Japanese government has repeatedly emphasized that its evolving missile posture is intended for deterrence and self-defense, particularly in response to growing regional threats from North Korea and China.
Tokyo’s new missile capabilities are being developed under a revised national security strategy that, for the first time, openly acknowledges the need for “counterstrike capabilities.” The initiative includes the acquisition of domestically developed long-range cruise missiles as well as foreign systems such as the U.S.-made Tomahawk.
The planned deployments in Kyushu and Okinawa are viewed as central to Japan’s effort to create a layered and distributed strike capability across its southwestern island chain. Defense officials say the system is designed to deter hostile action by ensuring that key Japanese installations and population centers are not left vulnerable to a first strike.
While North Korea frequently denounces Japan’s defense posture, the tone and language of the latest statement reflect heightened sensitivity to Tokyo’s increased military coordination with the United States and other regional partners. Joint exercises and trilateral missile defense cooperation with South Korea have drawn regular condemnation from Pyongyang.
For now, Japan continues to expand its defense capabilities under a framework that stops short of preemptive warfare but increasingly emphasizes deterrence through readiness and range. North Korea’s response signals that Pyongyang sees that evolving policy not as a shield, but as a threat.
