Japanese Diplomatic Document Angers North Korea, What's Going On?
North Korea has reacted angrily, accusing Japan of “serious provocation” after Tokyo outlined its rejection of Pyongyang’s nuclear programme in its annual diplomatic document.
The two countries do not have formal diplomatic relations. Pyongyang frequently criticises Tokyo over its colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, which ended with the Second World War.
Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released its annual blue book last week, detailing Tokyo’s official diplomatic stance and reiterating its opposition to North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons.
“That position constitutes a serious provocation that violates our state’s sovereignty, security interests, and sacred right to development,” said an unnamed official from North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement broadcast by the official North Korean news agency KCNA, as reported by AFP news agency on Wednesday (15/4/2026).
“North Korea’s measures to enhance its defence capabilities… are included in the right to self-defence,” the statement added.
The statement described Japan’s annual diplomatic document as “crafted with the logic and absurdity of conventional gangsters”.
North Korea insists that it will not relinquish its nuclear arsenal, portraying the path it has taken as “irreversible” and pledging to strengthen its capabilities.
In its annual diplomatic document, Japan also expressed concerns that North Korea has sent troops and ammunition to Russia to aid the war against Ukraine.
Tokyo also lowered its assessment of China for the first time in a decade, referring to Beijing as an “important neighbour” instead of “one of Japan’s most important partners”.
This marks the deterioration of relations with Beijing since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi indicated last November that Tokyo could carry out military intervention if an attack occurs against Taiwan.
It is known that China regards Taiwan as its territory and does not rule out the possibility of seizing it by force.