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N. Korea condemns US-Japan military cooperation

TOKYO, Sept 1 (KUNA) -- North Korea on Friday condemned the increasing military cooperation between Japan and the US, saying its latest missile firing is a warning against it, the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported. The Rodong Sinmun, an official newspaper of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, carried an article titled "Military Collusion Prompting Self-destruction," which was monitored in Seoul. The paper berated recent US-Japan military drills as a rash act that would drive an already tense situation on the Korean Peninsula into a flashpoint of nuclear war.
On Tuesday, the North fired a Hwasong-12 intermediate range ballistic missile over northern Japan into the Pacific Ocean, sending the country on high alert.
"Our Republic's (the North) toughest-ever steps like the launches of the Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missiles and Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missiles a grave warning not only to the US but to its blind follower Japan as they pose serious threats to our sovereignty and rights to life and development," the paper said.
Comparing it to their secret deal in 1905 that paved the way to Tokyo's colonization of Korea, the paper also said their military collusion is a reminder of the agreement in which the US recognized the need for Japan to colonize Korea, while Japan agreed to US control over the Philippines. The secret memorandum was signed in July 1905 by then US Secretary of War William Taft and Japanese Prime Minister Katsura Taro. Japan annexed Korea in 1910. (end) mk.gta