North Korea’s foreign ministry blasted Japan’s recently released annual defense white paper in a statement attributed to a researcher on Thursday.

Ri Pyong Dok, introduced as a researcher of the Institute for Studies of Japan, accused Japan of militarizing itself and “poking its nose … into the internal affairs” of North Korea and other countries.

“Japan, in its ‘White Paper on Defense,’ rationalized its attempt to reinforce its armed build-up,” said Ri. “It is none other than Japan which is dead set on isolating and stifling the DPRK while conducting frequently its aggressive military exercises in the surroundings of the