Risky Military Provocation

South Korean belligerent force is persisting in its dangerous military provocations against north Korea, regardless of north Korea’s sincere efforts to make a turnaround in mending inter-Korean relationship.

On May 12, the south Korean army launched a naval firing exercise around five islets in the West Sea, trumpeting about “punishment against the provocation of north Korea.”

They fired hundreds of shells of self-propelled guns, multiple launch rocket system and other war hardware, creating a tense atmosphere.

Aegis destroyers belonging to the US Pacific Fleet and a destroyer and anti-submarine helicopter of the south Korean Navy, etc. were busy with combined naval maneuver from May 19 to 24.

The south Korean army fired rifles and artillery pieces at random in the southwestern waters of the West Sea under the pretext of coping with north Korea's "provocation".

The force of the 1st Corps of the south Korean army was staging combat hardware mobile and obstacle laying drills in Koyang, Paju and other areas in Gyeonggi Province from May 23 to 27, timed to coincide with the above-said war game.

The south Korean defense ministry made public that it is going to conduct large-scale anti-ballistic missile joint exercise together with the US and Japan under the pretext of coping with “threat of north Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles” in June.

Frequent war rehearsals of the south Korean army are a perilous war provocation that dampen growing mood of national reconciliation and reunification zeal thanks to north Korea’s proposals of new reunification policy and escalate tension on the Korean Peninsula and surrounding areas.

On May 21, north Korea proposed to hold working-level contact for opening the north-south military authorities' talks to south Korea, the ruling conservative quarters flatly turned down north Korea’s initiative, clamoring about “denuclearization first” and “propaganda without sincerity”.

The south Korean conservative authorities should take the path of promoting inter-Korean reconciliation and unity, instead of pursuing policy driving the situation of the Korean Peninsula to the brink of war.