N. Korea slams US for being behind Japan's military 'collusion' with NATO

This June 29, 2022 file photo shows Jens Stoltenberg, center, chief of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), posing for a photo with four leaders of the Asia-Pacific region who attended a NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, including South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, 2nd from left. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon

North Korea said Monday the United States is behind Japan's move to seek military "collusion" with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), denouncing Washington for aiming to build a military bloc in the Asia-Pacific region.

Kim Sol-hwa, a researcher of the Institute for Japan Studies of the North's foreign ministry, said Japan's "unprecedented" military ties with NATO have sparked "great" concerns in the international community.

In an article carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency, Kim listed examples of Japan's military "collusion" with NATO, such as Japan's plan to open a NATO liaison office in Tokyo for the first time in Asia.

"What should not be overlooked is the fact that the black-hearted design of the U.S. to hold its hegemonic position in the Asia-Pacific region by fabricating 'Asian-version NATO' lurks behind the worrisome Japan-NATO cohesion," the KCNA said in an English-language dispatch.

The researcher said it is an "open secret" that the U.S. has worked "overtly and covertly" to create a military bloc in the Asia-Pacific region, as shown by its establishment of NATO after the end of World War II under the pretext of defending Western countries from "communist aggression."

Kim said the U.S. has a "sinister" intention to lay huge siege to China and Russia by "inveigling" Japan, South Korea and others into exclusive security cooperation blocs and linking them with NATO.

The official also condemned Japan for seeking to become a "military giant" by inviting the "unbidden guest" of NATO, warning that Tokyo will face its "second ruin" if it continues to pursue such military ties with outsiders. (Yonhap)