Portraits of late North Korean leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il are seen on the facade of a government building in Pyongyang, North Korea, Sep. 10, 2018. Reuters

North Korea's official newspaper on Sunday denounced Japan's export restrictions against South Korea as an "unacceptable political provocation," as Tokyo raised accusations the South leaked sensitive industrial materials to the communist nation to justify the export curbs.

"What we cannot put up with is that the Japanese reactionary forces are trying to justify the economic retaliatory measure against South Korea by raising accusations against us," the Rodong Sinmun said. "This measure by Japanese authorities are obviously an unacceptable political provocation against us."

Moon warns Japan of bigger damage 2019-07-15 17:38  |  Politics Moon to Abe: 'Korea will overcome export restrictions with united power' 2019-07-15 15:50  |  Politics Korea faces growing trade uncertainties on Japan's further export curbs 2019-07-14 17:16  |  Foreign Affairs On July 4, Japan imposed restrictions on exports to South Korea of key materials used in semiconductor memory chips and smartphones in an apparent move against last year's ruling by Seoul's top court ordering Tokyo to compensate Korean wartime forced laborers.

Tokyo accused the South of violating U.N. sanctions on the North to justify the measure. Seoul flatly rejected the allegations, demanding that Tokyo agree to have an international panel of experts look into the allegations.

The North's paper said that the Japanese measure is "drawing criticism from home and aboard." (Yonhap)