PYONGYANG, Feb. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- The Democratic People's Republicof Korea (DPRK) on Sunday condemned Japan's new "defense program" as a plot to reinvade the DPRK in league with the United States, the newspaper Rodong Sinmun said in a signed article.

    Meanwhile, the DPRK also criticized Japan's permission of the exercise of the "right to collective self-defense" under the pretext of "military threat" from the DPRK, the paper said.

    "The 'military threat' touted by the Japanese militarists is a far-fetched allegation fabricated by themselves. They have joined in the US hostile policy toward the DPRK and its moves to stifle the DPRK and, therefore, the situation in the Korean Peninsula hasreached the worst phase," the paper said.

    The article said, after the Cold War, Japan restored the rightsof belligerency and participation in a war under the pretext of "peace-keeping" and has dispatched "Self-Defense Forces" to dispute-torn areas to actively assist in US military operations. Enditem