North Korea warns Japan against deploying long-range missiles in Kyushu, KCNA says

(Reuters)

SEOUL, March 20 – North Korea warned Japan against deploying long-range missiles in the Kyushu region in March 2026, saying such attack capability will “bring about constant escalation of tension” in Northeast Asia, state media KCNA said on Thursday.

Tokyo was considering deploying long-range missiles on Kyushu as part of attempts to acquire “counterstrike capabilities” to hit enemy targets in the event of an emergency, Japan’s Kyodo News reported this month, citing government sources.

Pyongyang accused Japan of continuing a past history of aggression through moves such as a constant strengthening of the Japan-U.S. military alliance and collusion with NATO forces, KCNA said, citing the policy section chief of the Institute for Japan Studies under North Korea’s Foreign Ministry.

“All military means and various forms of movement directly targeting the DPRK… are an object to be wiped out,” the KCNA report said, using the abbreviation of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said last month that trilateral military cooperation among the United States, Japan and South Korea was raising tensions in the region and vowed countermeasures, including the further development of nuclear forces.