North Korea slams Japan military buildup, vows to continue missile development

North Korea on Tuesday made it clear that sanctions will not deter the country’s missile programme.

Pyongyang also denounced Japan’s new security strategy and military build-up, and warned it will show with action how “wrong” and “dangerous” the choice was.

Japan is reported to have revealed its biggest military build-up since World War Two amid regional tension with China; links have also been drawn to Russia’s Ukraine invasion stoking war fears, news agency Reuters reported. “We will continue to demonstrate through practical actions how much we are concerned and displeased with Japan’s unjust and greedy attempts to realise its ambitions,” a spokesperson of Pyongyang’s foreign ministry said.

Here are five points to know about North Korea’s recent missile development:

1. Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was quoted as saying by Reuters that the country’s initiative to develop a spy satellite is a “pressing priority directly linked to security.” The country conducted an “important, final phase” test on Sunday for the development of a spy satellite, which it seeks to complete by April 2023.

he United States on Monday condemned North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launches as a threat to the region and renewed an offer for diplomacy to resolve differences.

On December 16, the country reported Kim Jong Un oversaw the test of a new solid-fuel rocket engine that could enhance its ability to fire off quick-strike, longer-range missiles for delivering nuclear warheads.

South Korea’s military said North Korea fired around 130 artillery shells into the sea off its east and west coasts in the latest apparent military drill near their shared border on December 5.

North Korea is “ready” to test a nuclear weapon and will likely do so, South Korea prime minister Han Duck-soo said last week.