N. Korea Denies Responsibility for Sinking

North Korea denied yesterday involvement in the March 26 sinking of a South Korean naval vessel in its first official comment on the incident.

In a statement, a defense commentator at the North`s official Korean Central News Agency denounced Seoul for alleging Pyongyang’s involvement, calling it a “fabrication.”

The statement said North Korea considers the incident as “regrettable” because the Cheonan’s missing and rescued crewmen were fellow countrymen who were “forced” to serve in the “puppet military. Failing to probe the cause of the sinking of the ship, the puppet military’s warmongers, right-wing conservative politicians, and group of other traitors in South Korea are now foolishly seeking to link the accident to us at any cost."

The news agency is the North’s state-run media under the propaganda and agitation department of the ruling Workers’ Party, so the statement is considered Pyongyang’s first official reaction to the incident.

The statement was also delivered through the North’s official media targeted for a domestic audience, informing the North Korean people of the incident for the first time.

Pyongyang in the past has denied involvement and blamed Seoul for “fabricating” blame soon after conducting terrorist attacks, including the 1983 bombing of the Aung San National Cemetery in Myanmar and the 1987 bombing of a Korean Air flight.

kyle@donga.com