North Korea says record-high Japan defence budget would risk 'turmoil'

SEOUL: North Korea slammed Japan's reported plans to increase its defence budget, accusing Tokyo on Saturday (Aug 22) of preparing for a "war of aggression" as its US ally pursues talks with Pyongyang.

Japan has been gradually moving away from its post-World War II pacifist stance, increasing military spending, ramping up defence pacts and deploying missile launchers to its outer islands.

The Japanese defence ministry is now seeking a "record-high" budget for the upcoming fiscal year, broadcaster NHK and other media outlets reported this week, putting the sum at 8.9 trillion yen (US$56 billion).

The budget request "will once again break all-time records", a commentary carried by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

While not yet finalised, the move "clearly signifies a dangerous expansion of the war budget that will bring new turmoil to the region and the world", KCNA said.

"This massive increase in military spending will lead to a buildup of military power to complete preparations for a war of aggression".

The United States, an old Japanese and South Korean ally, meanwhile seeks its own engagement with Pyongyang, with President Donald Trump scaling back annual military drills with Seoul aimed at countering potential threats from the nuclear-armed North.

Trump's order has alarmed allies concerned about US commitments to security in East Asia. Japan this week underlined the "critical" importance of security cooperation with the United States and South Korea.

Trump also said he would meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year.

Japan occupied all of Korea before its 1945 surrender in World War II, after which the peninsula was divided into separate states along the 38th parallel.

The legacy of the violent colonial period continues to weigh on the foreign policies of both North and South Korea.

China, a key ally of North Korea, has recently expressed alarm at what it sees as "new militarism" by Japan.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration is undertaking a major update of the national defence strategy this year in the face of China's expanding military ambitions.

Tokyo has already lifted Japan's self-imposed ban on weapons exports and expanded defence spending, while pushing to amend the pacifist constitution.

Still, Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi last week reaffirmed the government's "determination to continue fulfilling our responsibility to uphold Japan's postwar path as a peaceful nation", he said during a visit to a shrine honouring the country's war dead.