Rodong Shinmun, mouthpiece of the North Korean Workers’ Party, insisted on the 29th that the U.S. must abandon its hostile policy toward North Korea and withdraw its troops from South Korea, if they want to remove the root of a nuclear war, Rodong Shinmun said.
In an editorial with the title “Revealing the ugly face of a nuclear perpetrator,” Rodong Shinmun said that the most urgent question of the Korean Peninsula today is to get rid of the threat of a nuclear war and build a permanent peace regime.
“The threat of a nuclear war in the Korean Peninsula will be eliminated if the U.S. stops its nuclear threat and hostile policy against our republic and withdraws its invading army from South Korea,” Rodong Shinmun said.
“The U.S. installed around one thousand nuclear weapons in South Korea, and turned it into the largest nuclear warehouse in East Asia and the advance base for operations against the DPRK,” Rodong Shinmun said. “If the U.S. has not brought nuclear weapons into South Korea and thus posed a nuclear threat to our country, there would not be any nuclear problem in the Korean Peninsula in the first place.”
“Under the ‘strategic flexibility’ plan, the U.S. reorganized its troops stationed in South Korea with priority given to the Navy and Air force as part of its plan to increase its military power in the South. In addition, the U.S. is claiming loudly that it could launch a preemptive nuclear strike, which means it would use its nuclear weapons not as the last option for war but as a common war-tactic,” Rodong Shinmun said.
In its editorial on January 26, Rodong Shinmun quoted Kim Jong il as saying, “In order to ease the state of tension and get rid of the threat of war, the U.S. first of all must drop its hostile policy against our republic and conclude a peace treaty between the DPRK and the U.S.”
That North Korea spoke about the conclusion of a peace treaty and withdrawal of the U.S. troops from South Korea at this time has to do the stalled Six Party Talks. It is understood that North Korea brought up a subject that has nothing to do with its possession of nuclear programs in an attempt to place the blame for its failure to fulfill its obligations under the October 3 Agreement on others. That is a very typical propaganda tactic of North Korea.
In fact, North Korea is using its classic negotiation technique by bringing out the so-called the “ultimate problem” of the Korean Peninsula, in order to pass the blame for its violation against the treaty agreement on the U.S.
The U.S. Army in South Korea is the biggest obstacle to a peace treaty. However, while North Korea urged the U.S. to pursue a “peace treaty” in its January 26th editorial, the withdrawal of the U.S. Army was never mentioned. The January 29th editorial that followed more accurately revealed North Korea’s true colors, stating that that North Korea wants a “peace treaty,” but because they are facing the threat of U.S. nuclear weapons installed in South Korea, they have no choice but to maintain their nuclear programs.
