DPRK Condemns S.Korea-US Military Exercise PlansThe Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Monday condemned the United States and South Korea for their planned joint military exercise beginning on Friday.A DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement that the "reception, staging, onward movement and integration" (RSOI) exercise is aimed at an "effective military support by the US troops" including those in the US mainland "in case of a crisis on the Korean Peninsula." Huge armed forces including the US troops present in South Korea and Japan and those under the US pacific military command will reportedly participate in the exercise, the spokesman said. What draws the DPRK's particular attention, he said, is the fact that this year's exercise, unlike the previous ones, would be staged on the "same level with a real war under the simulated conditions of the beginning of war" with the involvement of huge US troops stationed in and around the Korean peninsula and the Pacific. This proves that the Bush administration which repeatedly claimed hard-line policies toward the DPRK from the early days of its office has "entered a reckless adventure" to put them into practice. The US plan to stage a war game under the simulated condition of an "actual war" by hurling even its forces in the Pacific fully proves that it has completely reversed a DPRK-US agreement on not threatening the dialogue partner by military force and is more openly pursuing the hostile policy to stifle the DPRK with "strength," said the spokesman. He stressed that what the US seeks in the provocative war game is to aggravate the inter-Korean relations and the situation on the Korean peninsula heading for reconciliation and cooperation, peace and reunification, bring them back to the state of confrontation before the publication of the North-South joint declaration, and thus dampen ardent aspirations of the Korean nation for independent reunification and create a favorable atmosphere for realizing its ulterior design to dominate the whole of Korea. The DPRK has already prepared for both dialogue and war, said the spokesman, adding that if the South Korean authorities defiantly take part in the projected war exercise in pursuance of the US war moves against the DPRK, their behavior cannot be construed otherwise than a downright betrayal of the North-South joint declaration. The DPRK will do its utmost to preserve peace, security and stability on the Korean Peninsula and open the door of reunification through the efforts of the nation, the spokesman said. But it will resolutely fight against those who threaten the DPRK's dignity and sovereignty and will deal merciless retaliatory blows to them, he said. |
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