Pyongyang, Aug 20 (IANS): North Korea accused Japan of building a cyberspace attack force in its military under the pretext of self-defence, the media reported.

Official newspaper Rodong Sinmun on Saturday said the Japanece Defence Ministry is planning to boost the size and capability of its cyber unit under the excuse of self-defence against hackers.

The members of the cyber unit will be drastically increased and a department for specializing in cyber attack capability will be set up, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Their cyber unit is not for merely protecting the computer system of the Self-Defence Forces (SDF) from hacking, but for attacking the computer systems of its rivals," said the newspaper, adding that once the unit has the capability to attack, the SDF will "completely turn into the force in attack formation".

"If they are engrossed in war hysteria for re-invasion (of the Korean peninsula) while talking about the improvement of the so-called attacking capability, far from drawing a lesson from their crimes-woven past history, they will follow in the footsteps of their defeated predecessors," it said.

The Japanese Defence Ministry was mulling increasing the number of soldiers in its cyber defence unit from the current 110 to 1,000, and a new working group to study cyber warfare techniques will also be established, according to media reports last month.

The initiative is part of the Japanese government's plan to boost its cyber defence capabilities ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.