PYONGYANG -- The Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) called Wednesday Seoul's strengthening military cooperation with Japan a "direct challenge" to Pyongyang.

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According to an article published on the committee's uriminzohkkiri.com website, Japan, the "long-time enemy" of the DPRK, tried to prepare another aggression against the DPRK. Moreover, the article said South Korea's increasing military cooperation with Japan is to "help a tyrant to do evil."

The fact that South Korean authorities don't discuss pressing issues with fellow clansmen but are working together with aggressors on the other side of the ocean is a "direct challenge" to the DPRK, the article said.

It is reported that South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin met with his Japanese counterpart Toshimi Kitazawa to seek "future-oriented" bilateral military relations and started discussing two pacts designed to facilitate their ties.