Stop military drill!

Stop military drill! On Jan.21, the south Korean Defense Ministry expressed through a report that the south Korean-US joint military exercises will be carried out this year on the same scale as last year.  The south Korean people from all social strata raise their voices that the joint military maneuvers only increase escalation of tension and danger of war instead of peace on the Korean Peninsula. On Feb. 19, over eighty-three civic organizations including labor, women, human rights and religion called a press conference in Seoul to demand suspension of the military drill. The military drill aggravates sour inter-Korean ties and north Korea-US relationship and military tension in the Korean Peninsula and northeast Asia would hinder peace process of the Korean Peninsula, the organizations pointed out. Dialogue is incompatible with military maneuver. It is high time for south, north Korea and the US to make efforts to create favorable conditions for trust building and resumption of dialogue. The suspension of south Korea-US joint military maneuvers will be important moment. The double-dealing behavior of the US and south Korean authorities are bound to come under accusation and rebuff of the Korean nation and world peace-loving people.