Rodong Sinmun Monday observes in a commentary in this regard:

What Abe uttered reveals his scenario to restore the imperialist state which invaded many Asian countries at the beginning of the 20th century, crying out for becoming the "leader" of Asia.

This is a blatant challenge and mockery of not only the Korean people but also other peace-loving people of the world.

Moves are being pressed forward in Japan in real earnest to convert itself into a militarist and war state.

Japan has rushed headlong into the moves for militarization. This is evidenced by the facts that it worked out the "defence programme guidelines," "Midterm Defence Capability Adjustment Plan" and a "strategy for state security", the first of its kind in its history late last year. At the outset of this year, it set up the "National Security Council" and the "National Security Agency" which plays the role of secretariat under it.

The successive regimes of Japan worked hard without exception to remove legal and institutional hurdles lying in the way of converting itself into a military giant and launching overseas aggression. But no regime has gone so mad with militarist hysteria like the Abe regime. It is the preoccupation of the Japanese reactionaries to make all Japanese diehard militarists by denying the history of aggression and thus bring back those days when the Japanese imperialists could occupy vast regions of Asia in the last century, under the signboard of "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere". This is, however, nothing but a daydream.

Japan is going along the road of ruin.