CPRC Reunification and Agitation Department Blames South Korea-U.S. Joint Military Exercises

Pyongyang, August 8 (KCNA) -- The Reunification and Agitation Department of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country (CPRC) of the DPRK Thursday made public an open letter revealing who is the arch criminal harassing peace and stability on the Korean peninsula as regards the fact that the south Korean authorities and the U.S. have conducted an aggressive joint military exercise since Aug. 5.

According to the open letter, the joint military exercises which have been conducted by the south Korean authorities with outsiders century after century are the root cause escalating tension on the Korean peninsula and blocking the development of the inter-Korean relations.

The south Korean authorities continue to conduct joint military exercises against the fellow countrymen together with outsiders while asserting that "they should adopt perfect military posture" after shaking hands with us for "reconciliation and peace" at the venue of dialogue.

They had conducted the "2018 Max Thunder", the very adventurous allied air combat drill aimed at making a preemptive air strike at the DPRK and commanding the air with the U.S., in the whole area of south Korea since May 11, last year even before the ink of the historic April 27 Panmunjom Declaration which excited the whole Korean nation and international community got dry. This is the typical example.

The south Korean authorities responded to the repeated warnings of the DPRK against the joint military drills with outsiders by launching at last the north-targeted war drills whose original codename Ulji Freedom Guardian was changed, but form and contents never differ from it at all.

Citing a series of hidden hostile acts for invading the DPRK in south Korea, the open letter went on:

The north and the south, in their agreement in the military field for implementing the Panmunjom declaration, agreed each other to completely halt all hostile acts of becoming the root cause of military tensions and conflicts on the ground and in the air and the sea and all other spaces.

But the south Korean authorities are staging north-targeted attack drills in camera in league with outsiders, saying "there is a method not to make public the drills" and "joint drills will not be exceedingly publicized for the sake of strategic communication."

The war-like forces of the south Korean military mobilized marine corps and special operation units to secretly stage joint special operation drills against the DPRK together with the U.S. marines in March. They have been staging in camera flying drills of F-35A stealth fighters since April.

They also staged a joint naval drill Pacific Vanguard together with the U.S. in the waters off Guam in May and secretly a joint infiltration exercise targeting the nuclear facilities of the DPRK together with south Korea-present U.S. forces at a U.S. military base in Uijongbu city, Kyonggi Province in June.

They took part in the U.S.-led multinational naval intercepting drill targeting the DPRK on the pretext of "preventing WMD proliferation" in the waters off Pusan in July in the wake of last year's, and waged a joint sub drill Silent Shark targeting the DPRK together with warships of the U.S. Seventh Fleet in the waters off Guam. The drill involved subs and sea patrol planes.

Condemning the south Korean authorities for their frantic arms build-up against the fellow countrymen in the north, the open letter continued:

At the seminar "national defense reform" on May 11 last year, less than two weeks after he signed the historic Panmunjom declaration, the south Korean chief executive said that powerful defense capabilities are necessary to cope with unspecified and diverse threats in the case of the improved inter-Korean ties and ordered his men to concentrate all efforts on the arms build-up.

Accordingly, days later the south Korean bellicose military forces launched with due ceremony a large-sized transport ship for a landing operation in the area of the DPRK side in case of emergency, claiming that the military's mission will never change though the security situation may change and that they will further tighten the military posture.

The south Korean authorities have purchased F-35A stealth fighters one after another from the U.S. since March this year in a bid to mount a "preemptive attack" on the DPRK, according to the "defense ministry's program for 2019" and the "2019-2023 mid-term defense program."

Under the pretext of coping with "the existing threat from the north," they increased the military budget for 2019 by 8.2%, as compared to the one for 2018 which was at the record level. Not content with this, they submitted to the "National Assembly" the draft military budget for 2020, 8% up from the one for 2019.

The open letter warned that the south Korean authorities, who have been disloyal to the fellow countrymen and abetted the U.S. in the moves for stifling the DPRK, can never escape from the responsibility of compelling the DPRK to take countermeasures for eliminating potential and direct threats to its security, and will pay dearly for it. -0