North Korea condemns Japan for military talks with Britain, France

Jan. 22 (UPI) -- North Korea is accusing Japan of interfering with peace on the peninsula through increased cooperation with Britain and France, as Pyongyang continues to decline talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

North Korea's state-controlled Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday Japan is making moves intended to create "chaos" through military action.

The statement comes after Abe's summit with British Prime Minister Theresa May. The two sides had discussed the possibility of deploying a British frigate to Japan on Jan. 10, according to South Korean news service News 1.

The following day, foreign and defense ministers of France and Japan met in Brest, France, to discuss greater maritime cooperation to monitor North Korea.

North Korea accused Tokyo of creating military tensions even as trends toward peace are increasing on the peninsula.

"There is a new air of peace and stability" in the region, KCNA stated, adding Japan is making a "foolish attempt" to realize military ambitions.

Pyongyang said the military talks are a dangerous provocation that violates state sovereignty.

Abe has called on Kim Jong Un to meet, but North Korea has refused to hold a summit with Japan.

The need to coordinate on North Korea with the South could be greater than a dispute over a fire-control radar incident in Tokyo.

Fuji TV reported Tuesday Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya will no longer press Seoul on the radar incident.

Iwaya said defense cooperation between South Korea and Japan is "extremely important" and that the bilateral relationship is based on trust, according to reports.

Japan has said the South Korean naval ship targeted the Japanese aircraft with fire-control radar and released a 13-minute video clip of the incident. Seoul has said the claim is false.