North Korea accused Japan of preparing for a “war of aggression” after Tokyo announced a planned increase in its defense budget, which media say could reach a record 8.9 trillion yen (about €48 billion) in the next fiscal year. The accusation came as the U.S. president, whose country is formally allied with Japan, engaged in contacts with Pyongyang.

In a commentary carried by the official North Korean news agency KCNA, Pyongyang said the budget request “will once again break all records.” Although the proposal is not yet final, the commentary said the move “clearly represents a dangerous expansion of the war budget that will bring new turbulence to the region and the world,” and argued that such a “massive increase in military spending will strengthen military power to complete preparations for a war of aggression.”

Japan has gradually moved away from its post‐World War II pacifist stance: it has lifted a self‐imposed ban on arms exports, sought changes to its pacifist constitution, increased military spending, deepened defense partnerships, and deployed missile launchers on some of its outlying islands. At the same time, U.S. President Trump’s decision to reduce traditional joint exercises between the United States and South Korea — exercises intended to deter the threat from the North — has also alarmed Tokyo, which this week stressed the “critical” importance of security cooperation with Washington and Seoul.

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