N. Korea slams Japan's move to revise key security documents

▲ Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (Yonhap)

N Korea-Japan

N. Korea slams Japan's move to revise key security documents

SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Monday criticized Japan over its move to overhaul key security legislation, calling it "a brazen challenge to global peace and humanity."

The North's criticism came as Japan has been seeking to revise its three key security documents -- the National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy and Defense Buildup Program -- within this year.

The effort is widely seen as a response to China's growing military presence in the region and other regional security threats.

Pyongyang denounced the move as a "sly scheme" by Japan to "realize their ambition of reinvasion amid escalating global tensions," according to an article published by Rodong Sinmun, the official mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.

The article stressed the revision's core provisions include an increased defense budget, the lifting of restrictions on arms exports and the expansion of military capabilities, concluding the changes are "undoubtedly aimed at reviving its arms industry and increasing its war capability."

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