NDC of DPRK Advances Crucial Proposals to S. Korean Authorities

It is the 14th year in the 21st century amid the deepening bitterness the Koreans suffer from the national division.

As the times go by, the nation has suffered ever-bigger pain of territorial division and national partition which were imposed at the hands of outsiders.

Out of the resolute determination to end this, the peerless patriot declared his iron will to bring earlier national reunification and peace and prosperity with his patriotic mind at a significant moment when the first day of this year dawned, warming up the 3 000-ri territory and the minds of all Koreans and the world people.

But only the present authorities of south Korea have showed ill-boding movements from the outset of the new year, not doing away with the inveterate bad habit of escalating confrontation.

They build up the public opinion to convince the people that the present stalemate in the north-south ties is due to the DPRK. They are saying this or that over the internal affairs of the other side and have become talkative about the non-existent "provocation" and "threat", not content with their dream for sort of "emergency", deliberately straining the situation.

They are even calling for staging from the end of February aggressive Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises which they have waged every year under the pretext of "annual and defensive exercises" by resorting to the decade-old trite method.

Ssangryong landing operation which is envisaged to be included in the war exercises is said to be held in the biggest scale targeting an attack on Pyongyang.

The danger of the issue lies in that such military movements are being stealthily undertaken in south Korea and its vicinity by new naval and air forces including huge tanks and armored vehicles and airplane formations of the U.S. imperialist aggression forces.

Under the prevailing grave situation, the National Defence Commission (NDC) of the DPRK makes the following proposals to the south Korean authorities upon authorization of the government, political parties and organizations of the DPRK:

1. We propose taking practical measures in hearty response to the warm call for creating an atmosphere for improving the north-south ties.

It is the invariable stand of the army and people of the DPRK to mend the north-south ties and achieve national reconciliation and unity.

So, we officially propose the south Korean authorities to take a practical measure of halting all acts of provoking and slandering the other side from January 30, a day before the Lunar New Year's Day.

This year is a significant year marking the 10th anniversary of the "June 4 agreement" in which the north and the south agreed to stop all forms of slanders and psychological warfare in the spirit of the historic June 15 joint declaration.

If the south side respects this agreement it signed, there can never be any reason whatsoever for it not to accept our proposal.

If those in power have true intent for improving the north-south ties, they should take good control of what is uttered by them and lead the media to create an atmosphere favorable for improving the north-south ties and thus make the strong wind of reconciliation and unity rage across the Korean peninsula.

Now is the time to definitely end the evil cycle of slanders, calumnies and hostility that are harmful to all. South Korea should no longer block the voices of the fellow countrymen calling for harmony of the nation.

2. We propose taking a practical step of halting all hostile military acts against the other side in response to the historic call for ensuring the security and peace of the nation.

Even minor and accidental conflict can immediately lead to an all-out war on the peninsula. This is a stark reality today.

Any war on this land will help big powers fish in troubled waters and bring unimaginable destruction to Koreans.

So, we again propose immediately and unconditionally halting all military and hostile acts targeting the fellow countrymen in collusion with outsiders.

For the present the south Korean authorities should take a crucial political decision of canceling Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises which they plan to stage from the end of February under the pretext of "annual and defensive drills".

If the "coordination" and "cooperation" with the U.S. are so precious and valuable, they had better hold the exercises in the secluded area or in the U.S. far away from the territorial land, sea and air of the Korean peninsula. This is the stand of the DPRK.

Explicitly speaking, the DPRK will never take military acts detrimental to the nation's security and peace by introducing outsiders in the future, either, as in the past.

We specially propose stopping all acts provoking the other side on the ground and in the sea and air including five islands in the West Sea, hotpots where both sides are in acute show-down, leveling their guns at each other.

The DPRK side will show its practical action first for the realization of this proposal.

3. We propose taking practical measures to be beneficial to each other to prevent a nuclear holocaust from being inflicted on this land.

The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is a goal common to the nation. This is also the invariable will of the army and people of the DPRK.

The possession of nuclear weapons and the pursuance of the line on simultaneously pushing forward economic construction and buildup of a nuclear force are a treasured sword common to the nation and the most just option for self-defence which aims at ending the nuclear threat and blackmail against all Koreans by the U.S. and envisages the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and the rest of the world alike.

Our nuclear force serves as a means for deterring the U.S. from posing a nuclear threat. It will never be a means for blackmailing the fellow countrymen and doing harm to them.

We, availing ourselves of this opportunity, courteously propose the south side not to resort to reckless acts of bringing dangerous nuclear strike means of the U.S. to south Korea and to areas around it.

It is the stand of the DPRK that they should resolutely break with the double-dealing stand of tolerating nuclear weapons of outsiders which are harmful to the fellow countrymen while denying the nuclear weapons of fellow countrymen which protect the nation.

These crucial proposals reflect the desire and wish of all the Koreans to reject outsiders and bring earlier the independent reunification, peace and prosperity of the nation from the standpoint of By Our Nation Itself.

If these proposals are put into practice, it will be possible to settle all issues, big or small, arising in the north-south relations including the reunion of separated families and their relatives.

It is the unanimous wish of the army and people of the DPRK to open up the wide avenue for improving the north-south relations by concerted efforts of the Koreans.

We express the expectation that the south Korean authorities will positively respond to our principled crucial proposals.

Rodong Sinmun