JAPAN PERSPECTIVE

Tokyo, June 24, 2026. Japan finds itself doubly in Pyongyang's sights: a nominal target in Kim Jong Un's rhetoric and a direct neighbor to a North Korean navy undergoing nuclear expansion. The commissioning of the destroyer Choe Hyon, a 5,000-ton vessel inaugurated during a ceremony in the western port of Nampho, and Kim's stated ambitions for a nuclear fleet have placed Tokyo in a heightened state of alert.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara responded directly to the North Korean leader's declarations. Kim had asserted that Japan, a "defeated nation in Asia," had "openly transformed into a war state" by exploiting regional tensions to shed restrictions on its remilitarization. Kihara dismissed these accusations at a press conference: "Assertions that Japan is becoming a military power or reviving militarism are groundless." He reaffirmed that Japanese defense policy remained "exclusively defensive" and that the nation maintains only the minimum capabilities necessary for self-defense.

The government spokesman also called on Pyongyang to fully implement United Nations Security Council resolutions prohibiting North Korean nuclear and ballistic activities. This measured response contrasts with the gravity of Kim's announcements: the leader declared that the navy's nuclear armament program "was proceeding according to its planned course without deviation" and set the objective of constructing two large surface warships annually through 2030, including a 10,000-ton cruiser.

Japanese media note that this marks the first time Kim has explicitly employed the terms "militarism" and "aspiration to military power" to criticize Tokyo. The fact that Chinese President Xi Jinping voiced similar statements during his recent Pyongyang visit—expressing opposition to any attempt to "revive militarism," in language apparently directed at Japan—has not escaped the notice of Japanese observers. This Sino-North Korean convergence in anti-Japanese rhetoric is perceived in Tokyo as a significant political signal.

Kim further announced that a second 5,000-ton destroyer, the Kang Kon, built in Chongjin in the country's northeast, will soon be commissioned, and called for urgent construction of large multifunctional naval bases. The North Korean navy, which Kim himself once characterized as "the weakest of all armed branches," is now presented by Pyongyang as a force whose combat power "will become admirable beyond all imagination." For Tokyo, this naval buildup, coupled with explicit nuclear ambition, reinforces the relevance of its own defensive capability reassessment—which Pyongyang presents precisely as proof of the righteousness of its own strategic choices.