FM Spokesman on Attempt to Refer Warship Sinking to UN

FM Spokesman on Attempt to Refer Warship Sinking to UN

Pyongyang, June 4 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry gave the following answer to the question put by KCNA on Friday as regards the U.S. and its followers' attempt to refer the case of warship "Cheonan's" sinking to the UN Security Council after linking it with the DPRK: As already clarified by the DPRK, the "results of the investigation" into the case announced by the U.S. and the south Korean authorities are a sheer fabrication. If they are true, there will be no reason for them to refuse to receive the inspection group of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK as already proposed by it to have those "results" confirmed objectively. What is essential for settling this case is for the DPRK, a victim of the case, to verify the "results". To begin with, the "investigation team" cooked up by the south Korean authorities under the manipulation of the U.S. is a vague entity not in line with the international norms at all. The military has the final say and some foreigners are said to be involved in the team but it was absolutely unknown what procedure and process they went through before being chosen as its members and whether all of them signed the paper carrying the "results of the investigation" or not. This was the reason why the south Korean authorities were compelled to give to the above-said team deformed name called "civilian-military investigation team" something unprecedented in the world, instead of formally naming it an international investigation team. They are now mulling inviting experts of individual countries which are not the victims of the case to visit south Korea in a bid to tone down the international criticism that the "results" are doubtful. The UNSC should not follow the precedent in which its forum was besmirched by the U.S. with its lies about Iraq. It is important for the member countries of the UNSC to pay primary attention to objectively probing the truth behind the case and make a right decision of their own if they do not wish to see the council reduced again to a tool for high-handed and arbitrary practices of the U.S. In case the above-said issue is referred to the council, it should take measures, before anything else, to ensure that the U.S. and south Korea receive the inspection group of the NDC as already proposed by the DPRK and have the "results of the investigation" confirmed by it. It will be irrefutably evident that the U.S. and its followers are seeking an ulterior intention if they refer the case to the UNSC only with their unilateral "results of investigation" while avoiding objective confirmation about its truth. Then, the U.S. and the UNSC will find nothing to say about the toughest retaliation the DPRK is to take as it did in the past, and they will never shrug off the responsibility for having blocked the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and sparked off a conflict.