North Korea criticized Japan’s planned increase in defense spending, calling it an anachronistic calculation that would weaken economic recovery, burden the Japanese public and raise the risk of regional conflict. The remarks were issued by Park Hak-sung, a researcher at the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s Japan Research Institute, in an article published by Korean Central News Agency on November 5 and reported on November 6. Park linked Japan’s proposed military expansion to persistent inflation and yen depreciation, arguing that Tokyo had not demonstrated it could secure stable financing. Japan plans to revise its three major security documents this year, including a Defense Force Buildup Plan setting defense spending for the five fiscal years beginning in 2027. Nikkei Shimbun reported that the total could reach 60 trillion to 80 trillion yen, while earlier reporting cited a range of 70 trillion to 80 trillion yen and described the upper end as about 1.8 times the current plan. North Korea also warned that the buildup could intensify regional tensions and revive concerns rooted in Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.