North Korea says Japan is building up its defense around the capital city to deal with missile threats from the communist country.

The Minju Chosun, the official daily of the North's Cabinet, said Tuesday that Japan recently deployed advanced Patriot missile launchers at the Narashino base near Tokyo. It interpreted the move as being aimed at bolstering the ballistic missile defense shield for the Japanese capital, which it said would enable a preemptive strike against the North.

The paper claimed that North Korea has never threatened anyone with missiles, calling its development efforts "defensive security measures."