PYONGYANG, February 27 (Itar-Tass) — The large-scale US-South Korean manoeuvres that were launched on Monday evoked a sharply negative reaction in the North Korean capital. The people and army of our country “will wipe out from South Korean soil the group of traitors led by Lee Myung-bak (South Korean President) together with the American imperialists,” officer of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) Jon Chol Guk told journalists.
According to him, the decision to conduct the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises, aimed at undermining the DPRK sovereignty and dignity, “is little different from war declaration.” “The heroic KPA will respond to these manoeuvres by our own holy war,” said the officer.
Researcher at the Korea Economy Institute Oh Sun Il believes that South Korea’s head pursues the policy of confrontation with compatriots in the North and considers him to be “an active opponent of reunification of the two parts of the Korean Peninsula.” In his opinion, Seoul conducts manoeuvres targeted against the DPRK in order “to divert attention from a severe political crisis in South Korea.” “If we have an opportunity, we will launch a holy war for the reunification of the motherland,” he said.
Chae Song Ok, a student at Kim Chaek University of Technology, believes that the United States “is responsible for the continuing division of the Korean nation.” He also noted that “there is no limit to the striking intensity and range of the KPA.”
On Monday South Korea jointly with the United States launched large-scale Key Resolve exercises, involving about 200 thousand South Korean and 2,100 US troops. In addition, from March 1, yet another US-South Korean manoeuvres codenamed Foal Eagle will be launched in the South that will last until April 30.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) warned on Monday that these exercises will result in “a sharp aggravation of the situation not only on the Korean Peninsula, where the situation is already out of control, but in the entire region.”