North Korea Slams Japan's New Security Strategy, Promises "Action"

North Korea has criticised Japan's new security strategy, calling it a "serious" threat against international peace and warning of "actual action" in response. North Korea's foreign ministry said that Japan's military build-up "fundamentally changed" the regional security environment. This was in response to Japan's $320 billion security strategy unveiled last week, which includes drastically expanding the island nation's defence capabilities over the next five years - including counterstrike capability - in response to threats from China and nuclear-armed North Korea.

"Japan is creating a serious security crisis... by adopting the new security strategy that effectively formalises the possession of preemptive strike capabilities against other countries," said the North's foreign ministry spokesperson in a statement.

"The formalisation of Japan's new line of aggression has fundamentally changed the security environment in East Asia," said the statement, which was carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Tokyo will realise it has made a "wrong and very dangerous choice", the spokesman said, warning that Pyongyang "will continue to show the scale of our concern and dissatisfaction in actual action".

Earlier, North Korea had said that additional sanctions won't stop its missile programme, days after launching what appeared to be two medium-ranged ballistic missiles. The country had called it an "important" test for the development of a spy satellite.

Kim Yo Jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's powerful sister, made the remark in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency, saying such a development is directly linked to the country's security.