North Korea responded cautiously Monday to the Liberal Democratic Party's landslide victory in the Dec. 16 general election and took note of prime minister-in-waiting Shinzo Abe's hawkish stance on defense.
"The shift to the right and the rise of militarism in Japanese society have reached a serious stage," the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, said in an analysis piece in the country's first media reference to the House of Representatives election.
Abe is all but assured of receiving his second chance at prime minister Wednesday. The LDP president first served as prime minister from September 2006 to September 2007 before resigning suddenly after being beset by Cabinet scandals and party and medical problems.