The US and South Korea must produce new solutions for the standoff on the Korean Peninsula, a senior North Korean military official said yesterday, warning that hostile policies toward Pyongyang would lead to serious consequences.
The remarks add to recent comments from Pyongyang expressing discontent at the lack of progress in its negotiations with Washington.
This month North Korea issued a veiled threat about ending the freeze in long-range missile testing amid continued economic sanctions and pressure aimed at pushing it to give up its nuclear and ballistic missiles programs.
North Korean Vice Minister of the People’s Armed Forces Kim Hyong-ryong said at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing that the North has worked to build lasting piece, but the situation has relapsed into a “dangerous, vicious cycle” of exacerbating tensions, because of the actions of the US and South Korean governments.
“Though it has been more than one year since the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea]-US joint statement was adopted, there is no progress in improving bilateral relations between the two countries, completely because of the US’ anachronistic, hostile policies against the DPRK,” Kim said.
He also accused South Korea of a “double-dealing attitude” in continuing to carry out military drills with the US and buying advanced military equipment.
“Bearing in mind our firm will to safeguard peace in the region, the United States and the South Korean authorities must refrain from any actions disrupting the stability of the situation and come up with a new way for solving the problem,” Kim said.
North Korea has conducted missile tests in the past few months and broke off working-level nuclear talks with the US at the beginning of the month.
Pyongyang’s top negotiator for the talks blamed the US for the breakdown and said that Washington “brought nothing” to the negotiating table.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
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