North Korea slams Japan over diplomatic paper criticizing its nuclear, missile programs
Published: 15 Apr. 2026, 08:44
![Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/15/70cd4a20-e511-4f17-bb4a-4d78e6e95f63.jpg)
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi [AP/YONHAP]
North Korea accused Japan of a "grave provocation" against its sovereign rights after Tokyo's annual Diplomatic Bluebook expressed serious concerns over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile development, state media reported Wednesday.
A sectoral chief of the Institute for Japan Studies, affiliated with the North Korean Foreign Ministry, issued the criticism in a statement the previous day after Japan's foreign ministry described the North's continued nuclear and missile programs as "serious concerns" in the annual policy report released last week.
"I cannot overlook its move to say this or that about the DPRK's exercise of its right to legitimate self-defense, while dreaming of shaking the position of a nuclear weapons state specified in the Constitution of the DPRK," the statement said.
DPRK is short for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the country's official name.
“Japan termed the DPRK's measures for bolstering up its defense capabilities [...] 'a grave and urgent threat' and 'a clear and serious challenge' and made an anachronistic and evasive assertion like 'complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement,'" the statement also noted.
The institute official called the move a "grave provocation" that encroaches on North Korea's sovereign rights as well as its security and development interests, saying it reveals "deep-rooted hostility and confrontational intention" against the country.
The official also called the Bluebook a "tricky document" aimed at "beautifying militarist moves of the Japanese authorities who are dreaming of bringing about the [a] second imperial era."
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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