North Korea has condemned Japan's recent test-firing of a Tomahawk cruise missile, labelling the country a "war criminal state," state media reported on Wednesday.
Kim Yo-jong, the powerful younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, urged the international community to heighten vigilance over Japan's "wartime expansionism," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
"It is now clear that such moves were, after all, a camouflaged tactic to cover up its ambition for a military giant," Kim, an executive of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, was quoted as saying.
Her remarks came days after Japan's Self-Defence Forces conducted their first test-firing of a US-made Tomahawk cruise missile from a destroyer.
Japanese destroyer JS Chokai (DDG-176) launched a Tomahawk cruise missile for the first time on July 29, a major milestone as the archipelago country’s military works alongside the US Navy to expand its capabilities.
"The international community should heighten vigilance against the reckless military ambition of the descendants of the war criminal state keen on realising the old daydream of Japan's wartime expansionism," she said.
Japan plans to modify its remaining seven Aegis destroyers, along with two Aegis System Equipped Vessels under construction, to operate Tomahawk missiles.
Manufactured by US defence contractor Raytheon, Tomahawk missiles can fly at extremely low altitudes at high subsonic speeds and follow evasive flight paths using multiple mission-tailored guidance systems.
Japan's national security strategy adopted in 2022 paves the way for the country to acquire the ability to strike enemy missile bases as a self-defence measure within the bounds of its war-renouncing constitution, according to Kyodo News Agency.
