Anchor: North Korea is criticizing Japan ahead of a three-way summit among Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo and before its summit with Washington. The move is apparently aimed at keeping Japan in check as Tokyo is seeking to increase pressure on Pyongyang. 
Our Bae Joo-yon has more. 

Report: North Korea’s state-run media continued to denounce Japan for a second day on Tuesday. 

An article from the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, called Japan the Korean people’s 100-year-old enemy.  

The report claimed that Japan is seeking to invade the Korean Peninsula again, citing that Japan’s Self-Defense Forces conducted a drill last month with British military on monitoring illegal transshipment activities by North Korean vessels. It also noted that starting from Wednesday, Japan will carry out a joint exercise with the U.S. involving fighter jets. 

The paper then denounced Japan’s independent sanctions on the North. 

It claimed that the Abe administration is getting out of control while supporting U.S. sanctions and pressure on the North, saying such moves are putting a damper on the mood for easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula. 

The North’s criticism is apparently aimed at keeping Japan in check as Tokyo has voiced its support for the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the peninsula ahead of its three-way summit with Seoul and Beijing and before the U.S.-North Korea summit. 

It also appears that the North is seeking to convey its position by directing criticism at Japan while refraining from directly denouncing Washington. 

North Korea’s criticism of Japan comes despite both sides recently expressing a willingness to begin talks on normalizing relations. South Korean President Moon Jae-in told the Japanese daily Yomiuri on Tuesday that improved Tokyo-Pyongyang ties would greatly contribute to peace on the peninsula and Northeast Asia. 
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.

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