U.S. CRIMINAL ACTS OF BLOCKING IMPROVEMENT OF NORTH-SOUTH TIES AND REUNIFICATION OF KOREA INDICTED

Pyongyang, February 8 (KCNA) -- The National Reunification Institute issued an indictment on Sunday revealing the thrice-cursed crimes committed by the U.S. by viciously blocking the improvement of the north-south relations and reunification. The indictment said the U.S. is the sworn enemy of the Korean nation as it has illegally occupied south Korea for 70 years and viciously blocked the improvement of the north-south relations and reunification. It noted: After the liberation of Korea the U.S. worked hard to scuttle the Joint Conference that was convened in April 1948 for the establishment of the unified democratic government and fabricated the Syngman Rhee puppet regime, causing the division of the country. As it sustained a big defeat in the Korean war and faced the crisis of being expelled from south Korea, the U.S. let loose a string of brigandish remarks that "it can never withdraw as it suffered the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives in Korea", wantonly violating the Armistice Agreement on withdrawing all foreign forces and peacefully settling the Korean issue. The U.S. obstructions have become all the more undisguised in the 2000s when the June 15 joint declaration and the October 4 declaration were adopted as a result of the historic Pyongyang summit of the leaders of the north and the south and when the spirit for reconciliation, unity and reunification mounted high between the north and the south. The U.S. moves to check the improvement of the north-south relations and the Page 2 of 3 reunification of Korea have become more frantic since the emergence of the present regime. Early last year when the north-south high-ranking contacts were made and the atmosphere of dialogue and improvement of the relations were created as evidenced by the reunions of separated families and relatives thanks to the sincere efforts made by the DPRK, the U.S. resorted to all sorts of vicious moves. Due to the U.S. obstructions, the sincere efforts made by the DPRK for the improvement of the north-south relations and the national reunification did not see due results and the north-south relations have been further deteriorated. The U.S. strained the situation on the Korean peninsula to the extremity through the frantic racket for the war of aggression against the DPRK, the indictment said, and went on: After the liberation of Korea the U.S. conducted madcap war exercises and made military provocations in the areas along the 38th parallel, finally igniting a war. When there took place a political meeting to discuss the ways of achieving peaceful settlement of the Korean issue after the war, the U.S. pressed for Focus Lens joint military exercises between the U.S. imperialist aggression forces and the south Korean puppet army from 1954 to scuttle the meeting. In the 1960s it staged mad-cap Foal Eagle joint military exercises, constantly straining the situation. From 1976 the U.S. staged ill-famed Team Spirit and Ulji Focus Lens joint military drills, pushing the north-south relations to the phase of confrontation. It also gradually expanded the scale and duration of the drills. It committed military provocations including the armed conflict in the West Sea in 2002 one after another. The anti-DPRK war drills that the enemies staged last year clearly prove how the U.S. has worked hard to block the improvement of the north-south relations. Disclosing the fact that the U.S. moves have reached the extremity this year, the indictment continues: A typical example is the "additional sanctions" the Obama administration Page 3 of 3 imposed on the DPRK under the pretext of hacking at the Sony Pictures Entertainment. The U.S. puts pressure in every way on the puppet authorities to prevent them from holding dialogue despite its loud claim that it "supports the north-south dialogue." The puppet authorities which loudly claimed they were open to the north-south dialogue from the outset of the new year are making such poor sophism as "unreasonable precondition of the north", yielding to the U.S. pressure. This act aimed to shift the blame on to the DPRK side only reveals their plight as a colonial stooge and henchman. The U.S., not content with this, viciously conducts smear campaign against the DPRK to incite hostility toward it. Moreover, from the outset of the New Year the U.S. has been hell-bent on arms buildup and anti-DPRK war drills, deliberately straining the situation on the Korean peninsula. The indictment continued as follows: The U.S. should bear in mind the stern warnings issued by the arms of Mt. Paektu that it will be forced to drink a bitter cup of final destruction if it continues to pursue the anachronistic hostile policy toward the DPRK and the aggression moves against it. The south Korean authorities should clarify whether it would open the road to the improvement of the north-south ties and reunification from the stand of By Our Nation Itself or continue war moves and the moves of inciting confrontation between social systems in collusion with the U.S. that is little short of bringing calamity upon themselves. If the U.S. persistently stands in the way of the improvement of the north-south ties and reunification of Korea while resorting to the hostile policy toward the DPRK, defying our warnings, it will be forced to pay a very high price for all the crimes it committed throughout history.