North Korea on Monday denounced Japan's recent opening of a new diplomatic mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), accusing the country of dangerously escalating the military tension in the region.

Type 03 Chu-SAM surface-to-air missiles are set to be deployed on Japan's westernmost island of Yonaguni, 110 kilometers (68 miles) from Taiwan. Yonaguni is part of Okinawa Prefecture and the first island chain, which stretches southward to the Philippines and which Washington considers key to hemming in Chinese forces in the event of a conflict.

Japan launched its NATO mission in Brussels, according to a statement Thursday by the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

In addition to the American and Japanese paratroopers, airborne troops from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Singapore, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom participated in the exercise.

Indo-Pacific power Japan quietly opened a dedicated mission to the transatlantic military alliance last week. Tokyo’s prior relationships with NATO had been managed through its embassy in Brussels.

On January 21, commencing at 4:30 p.m. for approximately 15 minutes, Mr. ISHIBA Shigeru, Prime Minister of Japan, held a telephone talk with H.E. Mr. Mark RUTTE, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The overview of the talk is as follows.

Japan has formally inaugurated an independent mission to the NATO military alliance as Tokyo and NATO seek to bolster cooperation amid escalating tensions from Russia, China and North Korea, Euronews reports.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte agreed during a telephone conversation on Tuesday to strengthen cooperation among Indo-Pacific partners that also include Australia,

Japan has formally inaugurated an independent mission to the NATO military alliance as Tokyo and NATO seek to bolster cooperation amid escalating tensions from Russia, China and North Korea.

Ishiba and Rutte also agreed to work together to enhance the relationship between NATO and the Indo-Pacific partner countries of Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. The two leaders also ...

The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) issued the criticism in an article attributed to an international security analyst, following Japan's formal inauguration of an independent mission to NATO last week to bolster cooperation.

The flight, which lasted for more than eight hours, saw the Russian aircraft being escorted by planes from other countries