N. Korea Threatens to Withdraw from Armistice

The spokesperson for the North Korean army`s office at Panmoonjum warned in a statement yesterday, "If the United States imposes sanctions, we will deem the sanctions as a violation of the armistice agreement. Then, we are forced to take preemptive actions against it to free ourselves from all obligations under the agreement."

The spokesperson alleged, "The United States is infringing on our sovereignty like robbers. On December 9th, last year, America intercepted our cargo ship in the high seas. In addition, it has pronounced that it would continue the brutal acts. The pronouncement indicates that America will engage in a marine containment operation, which could possibly happen between two countries at war with each other."

He added, "America is trying to beef up its military presence around the Korean Peninsula and its surrounding area. It is sending in aircraft carriers and bombers. Furthermore, America is ushering huge troops and equipment into South Korea in the name of a joint military exercise scheduled for March 16th. All these moves point to the United States` intention of attacking us."

The statement of North Korea seems to be part of its efforts to drum up the international community`s support for it, and have the United States up against the wall based on the support. To foster the consensus, North Korea is trying to brand the upcoming joint military exercises of the United States and South Korea as an armed military provocation aimed at sealing off North Korea.

Dong-Ki Sung esprit@donga.com