July 22, 2025
SEOUL – North Korea on Monday denounced Japan’s joint next-generation fighter jet project with the United Kingdom and Italy, accusing Tokyo of attempting to revive its past military alliances and imperial ambitions.
In a commentary published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, Pyongyang described Japan as “an Asian war criminal state dreaming of restoring its former wartime alliance,” and claimed the country was “recklessly sharpening the blade of reinvasion in collusion with foreign forces, driven by feverish militarism.”
The commentary criticized Japan’s growing defense cooperation with its former World War II allies and NATO, which it labeled “the world’s largest war bloc and worst confrontation group in history,” calling such ties a dangerous trend aimed at preparing for future aggression.
In December 2023, Japan, the UK and Italy signed the Global Combat Air Program treaty to jointly develop a sixth-generation fighter jet with advanced supersonic performance and radar evasion capabilities, targeting deployment by 2035. The initiative was widely seen as Japan’s move to expand its presence in the European defense market.
Earlier this month, a joint venture backed by companies from the three nations was established in the UK, and the countries’ defense ministers held a virtual meeting to discuss progress, signaling continued momentum behind the project.
On the same day, Rodong Sinmun, the North’s ruling party newspaper, also denounced the trilateral project, saying Japan — once forced to renounce its right to wage war under international scrutiny — is now actively pursuing preemptive strike capabilities and advanced offensive weapons, in violation of its postwar constitution and international law.
The paper further argued that Tokyo’s pursuit of “military modernization under the guise of international research and development” is part of a broader effort to rebuild a military bloc favorable to launching future wars of aggression.
“If Japan, blinded by its ambition to become the ‘leader of the East,’ continues to cling to outdated alliances and military cooperation, it will ultimately face the fate of self-destruction,” it said.