North Korea denounces US, Japan's pledge to co-produce missiles on Hegseth visit

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea criticised a recent agreement by Japan and the United States on co-producing air-to-air missiles as aggravating regional security risks and another example of Washington's push to militarize Japan, state media said on Wednesday.

At a time the United States is upgrading its military command in Japan, the two countries' cooperation in munitions production clearly has military and aggressive intentions aimed at countries in the region, KCNA state news agency said.

The comments were attributed to an unnamed vice general director of the North's defence ministry and did not name specific countries.

But the official referred to the AIM-120 air-to-air missile system that the United States and Japan have agreed to accelerate co-producing during U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's visit to Tokyo on Sunday.

Advancing the deployment of such a weapon used by aircraft involved in frequent military drills in the region that already pose a grave security threat adds a "new element of strategic instability to the Asia-Pacific region," the official said.

"Certainly, the centre of gravity of the U.S. hegemony-oriented military security strategy is changing and it is a new warning signal for the Asia-Pacific regional society including the countries in Northeast Asia," the official said.

The agreement comes as "the U.S. has connived at and encouraged Japan's moves for a military giant since last century," the official said.

In Tokyo, Hegseth and his Japanese counterpart agreed to accelerate a plan to jointly produce beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles and to consider co-producing other surface-to-air missiles.

Hegseth stressed the importance of Japan's role in deterring China including Beijing's threat across the Taiwan Strait, calling it a "cornerstone" of security in the region.

Such a positive recognition of Japan by Hegseth was in contrast with his criticism against European allies and U.S. President Donald Trump's complaint that Tokyo has not done enough to support the presence of U.S. military in the country.

It is a priority for North Korea to counter growing instability by bolstering its military deterrence, the Defence Ministry official said, without elaborating.

(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Sandra Maler)