North Korea threatens new military options after Japan test-fires a Tomahawk missile

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a senior official in her own right, said Pyongyang will adopt additional military options after Japan test-fired a US-made Tomahawk cruise missile, Al Jazeera reported. She said the Japanese military has moved away from a defensive posture and is becoming a force capable of pre-emptive attack.

Her statement, carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), accused the United States of enabling the shift by supplying the missiles, modifying vessels to operate them and supporting the tests. Pyongyang said it would make Japan feel its security has been exposed to greater danger, according to the South China Morning Post. Korea JoongAng Daily reported that the statement is part of a sustained series, with KCNA publishing at least six commentaries since July denouncing Japanese and allied military activity.

Japan's position is that long-range strike capability is a deterrent response to missile launches by North Korea and to Chinese naval activity around its islands. Pyongyang's position is that a country with pre-emptive strike capability is by definition offensive. Both statements can be accurate descriptions of the same hardware, which is what makes this class of dispute self-reinforcing.

Spending decisions follow the rhetoric. Japan has raised defence spending and moved to permit missile exports. South Korea, Australia and the Philippines are expanding their own procurement. Each acquisition supplies the justification for the next one, and the regional order that results is one in which several middle powers hold long-range strike weapons that none of them had a decade ago.