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record as US signals Hormuz deal is closeOil majors post windfall profits as Iran war lifts pricesUS drafts ban on Chinese datacentre componentsTaiwan opens war games with first blockade scenarioChina's weather agency forecasts Super El NinoAnthropic signs $10bn computing deal with cloud startupOfficials suspect Iran behind attacks on US water utilitiesRussian envoy rules out evacuation after Cuban blackoutsMan arrested over largest Spokane wildfireRussian insurers drop war cover after Black Sea ship attacksFloods and landslides kill at least 21 in India and Sri LankaSpaceX revenue jumps 92% in first results since listingGaza families bury 112 recovered from 2023 strike rubbleLebanon and Israel resume direct talks in Rome25 states sue Trump administration over new tariffsSlowing growth weighs on Beijing's strong-yuan ambitionsEU seeks to drop Palantir as NATO confirms its useFinland licenses world's first deep store for spent nuclear fuelKashmir protests challenge Islamabad's authorityUS revokes visa of Brazil's ambassador in WashingtonCommission holds to permanent ban on Russian oilFed chair Warsh pressed over mixed inflation signalsHouse panel says data centres exposed US carriers to China hackThousands of sailors stranded as blockade grips Strait of HormuzSyria's Al Shara meets Kurdish commander AbdiRussia claims capture of Kharkiv region villageUkraine's farm sector faces $3bn hit from port closuresPilots' strike halts Argentina's grain exports'Terror-free Türkiye' bill circulates in parliamentJudge sets March trial for Paramount-Warner dealWorld Bank sees narrow AI window for poorer economiesRussia expands shadow fleet of LNG tankers before supply ban
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Symbolic image: North Korea vows military response after Japan's defence white paperSymbolic image

North Korea vows military response after Japan's defence white paper

4 sources

North Korea said on Wednesday it will pursue unspecified "additional military options" against Japan. Tokyo had published its annual defence white paper a day earlier, naming China, North Korea and Russia as growing threats.

What happened

  • Japan's defence ministry released the 610-page white paper on Tuesday, 4 August, pledging stronger monitoring, strike capabilities and ammunition production.
  • The paper says China is strengthening its aircraft carrier force and extending activities beyond the first island chain to the second.
  • Japanese jets scrambled 595 times in the year to 31 March 2026: 366 against Chinese aircraft, 214 against Russian ones, down from 704.
  • Japan lifted its self-imposed ban on weapons exports in April; the paper flags production-base problems that could jeopardise procurement.
  • Tokyo is deploying missile launchers to outer islands and expanding security cooperation with the Philippines, Australia and South Korea.

The view from outside

Nikkei Asia frames the exchange around a Northeast Asian nuclear deterrence that is maturing faster than the region's diplomacy, a dimension absent from both governments' statements. It also reports that Tokyo treats the Russia-North Korea axis itself as the rising regional risk.

What could happen next

  • Pyongyang has not specified what the "additional military options" are, nor given any timeline for them.
  • No Russian reaction appears in the available sources, despite Moscow being named in the paper.
  • Whether Japan's counterstrike acquisition proceeds on schedule depends on the production-base weaknesses the paper itself identifies.
How the camps see it

  • Japan: Defence minister Shinjiro Koizumi calls it imperative to reinforce defence capabilities with a stronger sense of urgency and crisis than ever before.

  • China: Defence ministry spokesman Chen Xi calls the paper "replete with false narratives" and warns against Japanese "neo-militarism"; Global Times says it signals support for "Taiwan independence" forces.

  • North Korea: Kim Yo-jong says Japan is a "war criminal state" whose pre-emptive strike capability threatens global peace, and that Pyongyang will not remain a "passive onlooker".

Also involved

United States

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