Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called North Korea a “nuclear-armed state” on Monday, stressing the growing threat that Tokyo faces from its neighbors.

But her government responded the next day by reaffirming Tokyo’s longstanding policy of not recognizing the DPRK’s nuclear status, despite estimates that it already possesses 50 nuclear warheads.

Takaichi’s remarks came in the context of Russia’s deepening relations with North Korea and China, during a televised debate with other Japanese political party leaders ahead of a general election on Feb. 8. 

“All of them are nuclear-armed states. And Japan exists right in the middle of this reality,”