Image Credits - Korea Times
North Korea has denounced Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s recent visit to Germany, labelling it as military collusion between two countries that committed war crimes. The condemnation came on Monday via North Korea’s state media, following Kishida’s Saturday meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, where the two nations signed an agreement to simplify the sharing of food, fuel, and ammunition between Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and the German military.
According to the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea asserted that Japan and Germany, both defeated in World War II, have “colluded” to engage in war exercises that escalate regional tensions. The agreement between Kishida and Scholz is perceived by Pyongyang as an attempt by Japan to secure its survival through bolstered military ties with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), driven by fears of diminishing global power due to the United States.
The condemnation extends to NATO’s broader efforts to expand cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, particularly with South Korea and Japan, in the context of Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and the strengthening relations between North Korea and Russia. North Korea views these developments as an effort to establish an Asian version of NATO, aimed at countering its influence.
On Saturday, North Korea reacted strongly to the NATO summit’s declaration condemning its weapons exports to Russia, calling it an “illegal” document and warning of significant “strategic counteraction.”
The statements from Pyongyang reflect heightened tensions and opposition to the growing security cooperation between Japan, Germany, and NATO in the Indo-Pacific region.