Pyongyang, March 26 (KCNA) -- The inspection team of the National
Defence Commission (NDC) of the DPRK released a memorandum Wednesday
four years since the occurrence of the "Cheonan" warship sinking case.
The memorandum clarifies from the objective viewpoint the facts that
have so far been disclosed since the occurrence of the case as the
present south Korean authorities are beating the worn-out drum of
escalating confrontation with fellow countrymen just as the previous
regime did.
Noting that the inside story about the hideous farce is being
brought to light with the passage of time, the memorandum goes on:
There occurred in waters off Paekryong Islet and Taechong Islet in
the West Sea of Korea an incident in which south Korean warship
"Cheonan" was broken into two parts for no specific reason at around
21:00 on March 26, 2010.
The then Lee Myung Bak regime made public so-called "results of
investigation" on May 20, about 50 days after the incident, and the
"final report" in September.
The conclusion was that the ship was sunken by a torpedo of the DPRK.
But as soon as the story about the "torpedo attack by the north" was
spread, it drew strong public criticism. The public called it a
"collection of all kinds of suspicions" and a "far-fetched assertion
based on a strange logic".
Censure and jeers came not only from south Korea but from the U.S.,
the center for making the hostile policy toward the DPRK, and other
western countries.
Some south Korean media said that "all those media that use such
phrase as sinking of 'Cheonan' by explosion are sham media."
The more water flows under the bridge since the case and the more
vociferous the south Korean authorities become in floating the story
about "the north's involvement in the case," the more strongly the
public will be convinced that the north has nothing to do with the case
and the greater the suspicions and distrust will become in the false
story spread by them, the memorandum notes.
Recalling that the case has been misused for escalating the
confrontation between the north and the south, the memorandum stresses
that the DPRK has consistently made every sincere effort to probe the
truth about the case and improve the inter-Korean relations.
It says:
Right after the sinking of the ship, the U.S. built up the public
opinion to create impression that the army of the DPRK was involved in
the case and asserted that the south Korean authorities' investigation
has considerable credibility and that it extends full support to the
report on the "attack by the north's torpedo", thereby inciting
hostility toward the north and kicking off a campaign for hard-line
confrontation.
When the south Korean authorities made public the results of
investigation into the "Cheonan" sinking case, the U.S. issued its
statements in support of them and when Lee Myung Bak made public a
"statement to the people", the U.S. clarified its stand of backing it.
As the north-south relations which had been put at peril further
deteriorated after the "Cheonan" case, the DPRK made every possible
effort to tide over the serious phase and pave a wide avenue for
national unity, peace and reunification.
The DPRK proposed dispatching a NDC inspection team to the scene of
the incident and holding north-south high-level military talks and the
DPRK-U.S. military general-level talks in Panmunjom. But all these
proposals ended up in failure.
The DPRK, however, continued its efforts to settle the warship case
and set right the north-south relations issue at any cost despite
manifold difficulties and obstacles.
Calling for a definite end to the vicious cycle of confrontation
with compatriots caused by the above-said case, the memorandum goes on:
The south Korean authorities should take a policy decision to accept
all the proposals so far made by the DPRK for the settlement of the
warship sinking case, if they truly want the improved north-south
relations.
First, the south Korean authorities should unconditionally accept
the NDC inspection team, make probe into the truth about the case and
make it public if they are still set to continue to peddle the "story
about the north's involvement" in the "Cheonan" case.
We are ready to send the existing investigation team of the NDC to
south Korea even now and have the will to produce all evidence proving
the case in Panumjom or other place agreed upon and clearly probe the
truth about it in the eyes of the world.
Whether the truth about the case remains buried into oblivion for
good or will be probed entirely depends on the attitude of the south
Korean authorities.
The south Korean authorities should show its will in practice to
reveal the inside story about the confrontation with fellow countrymen
based on conspiratorial plots and fabrications, not just uttering a
string of honeyed words calling for building confidence and developing
north-south relations through dialogue between the two sides.
Second, if they are still not in a position to accept the NDC
inspection team, they should give formal assurances that they would not
spread the "story about the north's involvement" any more.
If the south Korean authorities persist in such anti-DPRK
confrontation hysteria as the "Cheanon" warship case, defying our just
demands, they will be cursed as the same group as Lee Myung Bak's which
was known in the history of the nation as chief architect of the hideous
conspiratorial case and a horde of confrontation and anti-reunification
maniacs without equals.
It is our invariable stand that they should accept the demand of the
DPRK to clarify various suspicions concerning the warship case from a
fair stand or they should not peddle the "story about the north's
involvement" any more.
Third, the present south Korean authorities should break with the
inglorious past as demanded by the times and the nation wishing for the
improved north-south relations.
They should not allow the case to remain an artificial hurdle lying
in the way of improving the inter-Korean relations any longer and a
stumbling block in the way of defusing the tension.
They should take a bold decision of lifting all the confrontational
measures such as the "May 24 step against the north" taken by the Lee
Myung Bak regime as regards the "Cheonan" case if they stand for the
improvement of the north-south relations and the national reconciliation
and unity.
The south Korean authorities should show their will to shape a wise
policy as required by the times and the nation, away from the
anachronistic way of thinking. -0
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