CINA

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Today's (bourgeois) Korea Times reports the following:

      Yongsan protesters get 4-5 year jail sentence 
  
An appellate court in Seoul Monday sentenced nine protesters who had demonstrated against a redevelopment plan in Yongsan, Seoul to four to five years in prison on charges of killing a riot policeman and injuring dozens in a blaze set off during a clash in January last year.

The high court sentenced Lee Choon-yeon, the leader of the association of evictees, and another protester to five years in prison, a reduction from the six year sentence at a lower court.

The five other protesters received four-year jail sentences, down from the previous five years. The other two received suspended jail terms, the Seoul High Court ruled.

"It was legitimate for riot police to take part in the operation given that the situation was extremely risky for ordinary police officers to handle," said presiding Judge Kim In-wook, dismissing the defense team's allegation that the police abused their power. "In addition, the evidence, testimony and on-site inspection shows the fire was started by the protesters."

The nine were indicted after six people including a police officer were killed and more than 20 were injured in a blaze started during a pre-dawn clash on January 20 on the rooftop of a commercial building in Yongsan, central Seoul.

The conflict was between a group of protesters whose houses in the area were designated for demolition in a city redevelopment plan ― allegedly without sufficient compensation ― and the police who were dispatched to evict them.

The police caught 27 protesters at the scene and the nine were prosecuted after it was confirmed by the prosecution that they had led the illegal occupation.

Following the ruling, distraught family members expressed their despondency from the guilty verdict in a statement, saying "It is a day of extreme disappointment."

They plan to appeal to the Supreme Court.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/05/113_66821.html

Related articles:
☞ 용산참사 항소심도 중형선고... (참세상, 5.31)
☞ 용산..철거민 항소심, 정치적 판결 규탄한다! (Press release, 5.31)
 

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Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao stressed Sunday that it is "most urgent" for the two Koreas to defuse tensions and avoid conflict as Seoul seeks a host of punitive measures against the North for its deadly March naval attack, Joong Ang Ilbo wrote today.
   "The most urgent thing for us to do is to address security risks on the Korean Peninsula, which have been growing since the naval incident occurred," Wen told reporters. "In particular, we have to focus on preventing any possible armed clashes between the two Koreas."

And S.K. surprisingly draw the first conclusions, as Yonhap reported few hours ago:

South Korea's military has deferred a plan to fly anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets to North Korea, a defense ministry official said Sunday...
   Seoul has resumed FM radio propaganda broadcasts into the North while preparing to launch loudspeaker broadcasts on the heavily armed border. The loudspeaker campaign, which had been expected to begin in mid-June, is also likely to be to put on hold....

Related articles:

☞ Deadly silence at the DMZ (Asia Times, 5.29)
☞ China urges efforts to ease tensions (Yonhap, 5.30)
☞ Torpedo attack gives leverage to US, China (K. Times, 5.30)

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Enjoy the weekend reading!!

With the License to Deal
Engaged in "Business" with NK's Diplomatic Mission in Berlin
By Johannes Schönherr

Part 1:

The Odd Couple

East Berlin, late 1990s. Across the street from a block of run-down 1970s East German housing projects sits a decrepit-looking factory building from the turn of the 20th century; a former backyard building to be correct, since the front building was destroyed by bombing in the Second World War. The site of that former front building is now a flattened, debris-strewn parking lot with several car wrecks rusting away. There is no trace left of what kind of factory that former back building might have housed, and from the outside it looks fairly abandoned. The door is wide open and the hallway full of garbage. The staircase walls are covered with punk graffiti and, up to the 4th floor, the steps are littered with thousands of techno party flyers – apparently, somebody just opened big boxes of them and threw them down the stairs. A stairway to hell for anybody used to clean and orderly environs.

And yet, U Kun-chol, Secretary of Economic Affairs at the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s Berlin diplomatic mission, climbs these stairs several times a week, always accompanied by whatever translator he can fetch from his diplomatic outlet as he doesn’t speak a word of either English or German. The stairs lead him to a freshly painted white door and behind it, a spacious former factory hall, now all painted white and converted into a big, sleek office space with brand-new iMacs on the desks. It houses the headquarters of an independent movie theater operation that started out as a punk / squatter movie den in the rebellious Kreuzberg area of West Berlin in the early 1980s and which by now has grown into a cinema enterprise that runs several theaters across town.

U Kun-chol always politely knocks on that white door and, expecting no answer, opens it himself. One of a number of guys working in the office, all of them skinny like junkies, dressed in black leader and sporting disheveled post-punk haircuts eventually looks up from his computer screen and grunts: “We’re busy. You gotta wait a bit.”

U and his translator sit down and simply wait for somebody to have time for their business, helping themselves to a cup of instant coffee over at the small kitchen table. He is in his late 40s and his temples are graying, but he has a friendly face always ready to smile and wears decidedly Western clothes – a German army parka over a light gray business suit. He doesn’t fit into these environs of post-punk cool at all.

But he has good reasons to be patient: his predecessor contacted all the Berlin movie theaters listed in the Yellow Pages and all of them answered straight into his face with typical Berlin bluntness: “Get outta here,” once he had introduced himself and his business proposal. These punk guys here however seem to need the money offered and have agreed to work with that representative of the “Office for the Protection of the Interests of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” – the diplomatic mission North Korea maintains in Berlin at the time. The predecessor has returned home to Pyongyang and now U carries on with the business.

After a while, one of the young Germans comes over and sits next to U, asking “Whassup?” This is U’s moment. He produces a long type-written list of film titles from his parka pocket and demands: “I need these films. As soon as possible. Can you manage?” “Huh, difficult, that might involve a lot of work and won’t be cheap.” the reply invariably comes, to which U says: “Doesn’t matter. I need the films.” None of the theater managers asks any questions about what U needs the films for.

http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk03000&num=6181

Part 2: The North Korean Diplomatic Time Warp
Part 3: Cigarettes and Katharina die Grosse
Part 4: Kim Turns to Japanese Gangster Flicks
Part 5: Who Are U? What Do U Do?
Part 6.The End: Films for the Great Leader?
 

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First of all, here's the quotation of the week (my top favorite... well, I really, really like it!!): If the south Korean puppet forces show any sign of the slightest provocation, political, military and economic, against the DPRK, backed by the U.S. imperialists, we will immediately react to them by the just tactics of wiping out one by one, eliminate all rubbish of the nation from the Korean Peninsula and build on it rich and powerful reunified Korea where all Koreans enjoy prosperity (source: "A military commentator" via KCNA, 5.25).

Yesterday's KCNA "reported" the following:

KPA to Destroy Means of S. Side's Psychological Warfare 

 As already reported, the south Korean puppet military gangsters have carved slogans for anti-DPRK psychological warfare on walls of MP posts in the Demilitarized Zone along the Military Demarcation Line and are busy resuming the loudspeaker propaganda as part of the said warfare.

The head of the north side delegation to the north-south general-level military talks Wednesday sent the following notice to the south side as regards the reckless moves of the bellicose forces of the puppet military to resume the psychological warfare against the DPRK:

Recently the south side frantically conducted the operation to distribute anti-DPRK leaflets despite our side's repeated warnings and, not content with this, is going reckless to resume even the said anti-DPRK broadcasting in the frontline area.

Such act is nothing but a deliberate and premeditated provocation aimed to push the daily aggravating inter-Korean relations to the brink of war.

If the south side persists in scattering leaflets and resumes even the above-said broadcasting, the Korean People's Army will be compelled to promptly take its strong counter-actions including physical actions.

If the south side sets up even loudspeakers in the frontline area to resume the broadcasting, in particular, the KPA will take military steps to blow up one by one the moment they appear by firing sighting shots because such action will be tantamount to a blatant abrogation of the north-south military agreement and a military provocation against the DPRK.

Moreover, measures will be taken to totally ban the passage of personnel and vehicles of the south side in the zone under the north-south control in the western coastal area.

The south Korean puppet war-like forces would be well advised to act with discretion, bearing deep in mind that such measures of the KPA will not end in an empty talk.

http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2010/201005/news26/20100526-15ee.html

Related articles:
☞ North Korea Likely to Attack Broadcasting (DailyNK, 5.27)
☞ N. Korea wary of Seoul’s psychological campaign (K. Herald, 5.26)
☞ CPRK Declares Resolute Actions against S. Korea (KCNA, 5.25)

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For more info please check out:
http://sarangbang.or.kr/hrfilm
http://blog.naver.com/hrfilms

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Today's 'top stories' in the int'l media:

Seoul resumes psychological warfare with Pyongyang
North Korea 'on combat alert'

Already y'day Korea Times reported the following:

NK threatens to fire at loudspeakers 
 

North Korea threatened to fire at South Korean loudspeakers along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and destroy them, Monday, if Seoul resumes propaganda broadcasting...

"If South Korea installs new speakers for psychological warfare, we will directly aim at them and open fire to destroy them," an unnamed North Korean military commander said in a statement, carried by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency.

"If the South Korean traitors challenge our rightful response, we will counter with mightier physical strikes to eliminate the root cause of their provocation," the statement said...

Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said, along with other measures, the South would restart psychological operations against the communist North, including loud broadcasts of propaganda along the DMZ.

Kim warned of counter attacks if the North fires at the speakers: "If the North disrupts our psychological warfare by opening fire at loudspeakers, we will counterattack immediately,"...

 
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/05/116_66406.html

Meanwhile, North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity (NKIS) reported today, “On the 20th when the announcement of the results of the Cheonan incident investigation were revealed, Oh Keuk-ryul, the Vice-chairman of the National Defense Commission stated on the Third Broadcast, cable radio for North Korean residents, ‘Chairman Kim Jong Il has ordered the entire army, the People’s Safety Ministry, the National Security Agency, Worker and Peasant Red Guard and the Young Red Guard to move to a war footing.’” (source: DailyNK, 5.25)

Well, it seems that we're approaching f*cking "interesting times"!!

Related articles (just as examples):
☞ S Korea resumes border broadcasts (al-Jazeera, 5.25)
☞ Kim Jong-Il Orders Military to Prepare for Combat (Bloomberg, 5.25)
 

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The following is the full text of MB's today's "Address to the Nation" (in Pyongyang it'll be possibly interpreted as "Declaration of War"!!):

Fellow Koreans,
I am standing here today, keenly aware that the Korean Peninsula is facing a critical turning point.

My fellow citizens,
The Cheonan was sunk by a surprise North Korean torpedo attack. Again, the perpetrator was North Korea. Their attack came at a time when the people of the Republic of Korea were enjoying their well-earned rest after a hard day's work. Once again, North Korea violently shattered our peace.

The sinking of the Cheonan constitutes a military provocation against the Republic of Korea by North Korea.

Since the end of the Korean War, the North has perpetrated incessant armed provocations against us, including the bombing attack against the presidential delegation at the Aung San Martyr's Mausoleum in Myanmar and the bombing in midair of Korean Air Flight 858. The North Koreans, however, have never officially admitted the crimes they committed. This time is no different. They continue to insist that my Government fabricated the sinking of the Cheonan.

I am not surprised by such North Korean behavior and this was the reason why I emphasized, from the very beginning, the importance of conducting a thorough and objective scientific investigation into the incident. I also asked the nation to exercise patience and self-restraint. It was important for us not to come to any hasty conclusion until the results of the investigation came out.

Finally, on May 20th, the international joint investigation group released their conclusive findings, backed by definitive evidences. With the release of the final report, no responsible country in the international community will be able to deny the fact that the Cheonan was sunk by North Korea.

Fellow citizens,
We have always tolerated North Korea's brutality, time and again. We did so because we have always had a genuine longing for peace on the Korean Peninsula. But now things are different. North Korea will pay a price corresponding to its provocative acts. I will continue to take stern measures to hold the North accountable.

From this moment, no North Korean ship will be allowed to make passage through any of the shipping lanes in the waters under our control, which has been allowed by the Inter-Korean Agreement on Maritime Transportation. The sea routes meant for inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation must never again be used for armed provocations.

Trade and exchanges between the Republic of Korea and North Korea will also be suspended. We still remember the killing of an innocent South Korean tourist by a North Korean armed guard at the Mt. Kumgang resort. More recently, North Korea unilaterally confiscated South Korean assets at this same resort. Worse yet, the North sank the Cheonan taking the precious lives of our young sailors. Under these circumstances, any inter-Korean trade or other cooperative activity is meaningless.
However, we will continue to provide assistance for infants and children. Matters pertaining to the Kaesong Industrial Complex will be duly considered, taking its unique characteristics into consideration.

From now on, the Republic of Korea will not tolerate any provocative act by the North and will maintain the principle of proactive deterrence. If our territorial waters, airspace or territory are violated, we will immediately exercise our right of self-defense.

The North's military provocation against the Cheonan on March 26 violated the Charter of the United Nations and contravened the existing agreements reached for the sake of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, including the Korean War Armistice Agreement and the Basic Agreement between South and North Korea.

In close consultations with the nations concerned, the Government will refer this matter to the UN Security Council, so that the international community can join us in holding the North accountable. Many countries around the world have expressed their full support for our position.

I solemnly urge the North Korean authorities to do the following. Apologize immediately to the Republic of Korea and the international community. Immediately punish those who are responsible for and those who were involved in the incident. These are basic measures that the North has to take before anything else. If the North continues to make excuses and wild assertions as it has always done in the past, they will not find any place to stand in the world.

My fellow Koreans and our compatriots in North Korea,
The overriding goal of the Republic of Korea is not military confrontation. Our goal has always been the attainment of real peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. Our goal is to bring about prosperity for all Koreans. Our vision is to realize the peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. The Republic of Korea is no longer what it once was-an impoverished nation, suffering from the scars of war. Rising above the ruins of war, the Republic of Korea has achieved an impressive miracle of progress guided by the constitutional foundations of liberal democracy and a free market economy. The Republic of Korea is continuing its confident march toward the center stage of the world.

All countries across the globe are competing with one another to ensure the prosperity of their own citizens. At the same time, all nations are working together for the sake of co-prosperity and peace in the global community. The entire world is changing. Changes are taking place faster than ever.

But, what is the situation in North Korea? Nothing has changed over the last sixty years. It is a country still holding onto an empty ambition of forcefully reuniting the Korean Peninsula under the banner of communism. It is a country that still believes in making threats and committing terrorist activities. North Korea's goal is to instigate division and conflict.

For what reason and for whom is it doing what it does?

As compatriots, I am truly ashamed.
It is now time for the North Korean regime to change.
Today, no country can maintain peace and make economic development on its own. It is imperative to conduct exchanges and cooperate with the world and to join the path that everyone else is taking. It is time to look at reality and make that courageous decision. It is time for the North Korean regime to start thinking about what is truly good for the regime itself and its people.

The Korean Peninsula must not be left standing as the danger zone in Northeast Asia. The two Koreas must take the initiative and resolve this problem. The Peninsula must become a new cradle of world peace.

Fellow Koreans,
Permeating this War Memorial of Korea are the spirits of the soldiers of the Republic of Korea and United Nations who shed blood on this land. Also dedicated here was the monument memorializing the 46 fallen warriors of the corvette Cheonan.
Through the Cheonan tragedy, we learned a painful lesson once again. We had been forgetting the reality that the nation faces the most belligerent regime in the world.

We have to admit that our Armed Forces made mistakes as well. On the occasion of this incident, the Government will solidify the national security readiness. The discipline of the Armed Forces will be reestablished, military reform efforts will be expedited and combat capabilities will be reinforced drastically. The ROK-US joint combat readiness will be further strengthened on the basis of strong ROK-US alliance.

Public awareness of the importance of national security will be strengthened as well. We must never waver in the face of threats, provocations and divisive schemes by the North. We must become one when it comes to national security.

Fellow citizens,
Regardless of how rough the storm may be, we will continue to walk steadily on the path toward a prosperous nation, a compassionate society and a strong country.
The great people of the Republic of Korea will build an even greater country.

Fellow Koreans,
Let us all join forces and march forward together.

Thank you very much.

Source: Korea Times, 5.24

Related articles:
☞ Seoul: North will pay for sinking (al-Jazeera)
☞ South Korea suspends trade with North (Guardian)
☞ South Korea lashes out at North Korea (CNN)

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As today's (bourgeois) Korea Times is reporting, the LMB administration intensifies its repression campaign against the KTU:

134 teachers to be fired over political activities 
 

The progressive Korea Teachers and Education Workers' Union (KTU) is facing an uncertain future as education authorities are moving to dismiss more than 100 of its unionized teachers.

The planned dismissal will be the largest ever since the union's establishment in 1989, and has sparked a strong protest from the union.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced Sunday it was moving to sack 134 public school teachers, who reportedly signed up for the membership of the minor opposition Democratic Labor Party, and suspend four others.

"Teachers are bound to maintain their political neutrality. Paying membership fees to support a certain political party is illegal," the ministry said.

Of those fired, 50 ― who publicly denounced the government last year ― will be dismissed without benefits, depriving them of pensions and other perks given to civil servants.

The dismissal process is expected to take about 60 days.

The action comes following prosecution indictments of 148 teachers at public and 35 from private schools for joining the progressive political party earlier this year.

The KTU leader, Chung Jin-hwo, labeled the incident as a "Bloody Sunday" and said the union will join hands with liberal civic groups to pressure the government to reverse the decision.

Some leaders have already started a hunger strike in front of the ministry building in central Seoul, and are planning anti-government demonstrations during the June 2 local election campaign period.

"We have explained to the government several times that the money handed to the DLP was a donation, not a membership fee. Moreover, being interested in political issues should not be grounds for dismissal," Chung said in a press conference in Seoul.

"Punishing the members before a court ruling is ridiculous. They are holding a witch-hunt before the local elections," said Yang Sung-yoon, head of the Korean Government Employees' Union.

The KTU has been at odds with the conservative administration over state-run standardized exams for elementary and secondary school students, and teacher evaluation programs.

Recently, Rep. Cho Jeon-hyeok of the ruling Grand National Party disclosed a list of its members on his Web site, citing parents' right to know the political affiliation of their children's teachers. A court banned this for violating the teachers' privacy and ordered him to pay 30 million won in fines for each day the names were left posted on his site.

 
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/05/117_66356.html

Related article:
☞ Teachers’ union faces crisis (K. Herald, 5.23)

 
PS:
Just three weeks ago K. Times reported about 'New ways' to harm KTU...

For more about the subject please check out LabourStart!

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Well, a few parts of NK's official statements regarding the "3.26 Hwanghae CheonAn - CHT.02D Meeting" (*) were already quoted by the SK and in'l media...
But here and now you can "enjoy" the complete stuff (source: KCNA, 5.21)!

1. Statement by the National Defense Commission:

We had already warned the south Korean group of traitors not to make reckless remarks concerning the sinking of warship "Cheonan" of the puppet navy.

Nevertheless, the group of traitors had far-fetchedly tried to link the case with us without offering any material evidence. It finally announced the results of the joint investigation based on a sheer fabrication, which assert that the warship was sunken by our torpedo attack, in a bid to mislead the public opinion inside and outside Korea.

It is, at the same time, crying out for "punishment" and "retaliation" internally and foolishly seeking to prod the international community into applying additional "sanctions" against the DPRK.

What matters is that traitor Lee Myung Bak is taking the lead in such anti-DPRK smear campaign, even daring slander the headquarters of our revolution.

Meanwhile, Kim Thae Yong and other gangsters of the south Korean puppet military accustomed to flattery and blind obedience echo Lee Myung Bak's outbursts. This smear campaign is fanned up by Ryu Myung Hwan and other ultra-rightist conservatives of south Korea.

This is also joined by the U.S. and Japanese aggressors who are making desperate efforts to keep their hostile policy towards the DPRK on its orbit.

We would like to question them so busy linking the above-said case with the DPRK why they don't link with it the death of a puppet army soldier, crashes of fighter plane and gunship of the puppet navy and air force and the sinking of a civilian fishing boat that occurred one after another almost simultaneously.

It is the age of science and technology.

As a swollen balloon is bound to break, any lie is bound to be brought to light no matter how hard one may try to make it sound plausible.

What is evident is that the sinking of warship "Cheonan" can never be construed otherwise than a "conspiratorial farce" and "charade" orchestrated by the group of traitors in a deliberate and brigandish manner to achieve certain political and military aims because only 46 soldiers met miserable deaths while officers survived the case.

This being a hard reality, they are pointing a dirty accusing finger at us like a thief crying "Stop the thief!"

It is a trite method of the successive south Korean puppet regimes to fake up a shocking case and use it for floating a story about "north wind" whenever they find themselves in a crisis.

These days they are using for this plot even "deserters from the north" who had found their ways to a dumping ground and human scum.

The National Defence Commission of the DPRK responsible for the defence of the country and the security of the nation clarifies the principled stand of our army and people in view of the grave situation where the sinister plot of the group of traitors may lead to reckless actions against us.

1. As the group of traitors declared that the sinking of the warship "Cheonan" is linked with us, the NDC of the DPRK will dispatch an inspection group to the spot of south Korea to verify material evidence concerning the linkage.

The group of traitors should produce before the dignified inspection group of the DPRK material evidence proving that the sinking of the warship is linked with us.

We remind the group of traitors in advance that there should be not a shred of doubt about the material evidence to be produced before the inspection group.

2. Our army and people will promptly react to any "punishment" and "retaliation" and to any "sanctions" infringing upon our state interests with various forms of tough measures including an all-out war.

The all-out war to be undertaken by us will be a sacred war involving the whole nation, all the people and the whole state for completely eliminating the strongholds of the group of traitors who orchestrated "the conspiratorial farce" and "charade" and their followers and building instead a reunified power in which the whole nation emerges powerful and prosperous.

The tough countermeasures to be taken by us will prove to be practical actions of justice for dealing unpredictable sledge-hammer blows at the group of traitors who blocks national reconciliation and unity and stirs up an atmosphere of confrontation in the south Korean society.

3. Now that the group of traitors declared what it called "decisive actions", we will brand any small incident that occurs in the territorial waters, air and land where our sovereignty is exercised including the West Sea of Korea as a provocation of confrontation maniacs and react to it with unlimited retaliatory blow, merciless strong physical blow.

It is our invariable iron will to react to "retaliation" with more powerful retaliation and to "punishment" with indiscriminate punishment of our style.

Availing ourselves of this opportunity, we sternly warn the U.S. and Japanese authorities and riff-raffs, their poor lackeys, to act with discretion.

The world will clearly see what dear price the group of traitors will have to pay for the clumsy "conspiratorial farce" and "charade" concocted to stifle compatriots.

http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2010/201005/news20/20100520-04ee.html

2. Statement by the Committee for the Peaceful(^^) Reunification of Korea:

          S.Korea Accused of Linking Ship Sinking with North 
 
A spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea issued a statement on Friday assailing the south Korean puppet forces for releasing extremely provocative "results of the investigation" into the sinking of a warship of the south Korean puppet navy in a bid to hurl mud at the north.

The statement noted that the publication of the above-said "results of the investigation" is another extremely ridiculous charade staged by the puppet group in a bid to hurt the dignity of the DPRK, steadily tighten the "sanctions" against it, harm and suffocate it in conspiracy with its U.S. and Japanese masters, much upset by the might of the Republic advancing by leaps and bounds toward a thriving nation.

The Lee Myung Bak group, while working with bloodshot eyes to escalate confrontation with fellow countrymen, drew the conclusion from the day the case occurred that the warship was "sunken by the north" and has since conducted intensive investigation on its basis to hatch a plot, the statement said, and went on:

In the course of nearly two month-long investigation the puppet group fabricated what it called "circumstantial evidence" with conjecture, supposition and random guess. It just produced fragments and pieces of aluminum whose origin remains unknown as "evidence," becoming the target of derision.

Greatly irony is that it deliberately linked the case with the north, talking about the results of the analysis of composition of the unidentified "evidence" without any marking and its size and type.

This is nothing but a shameful deed of those keen on escalating the confrontation with the north.

The Lee group's assertion that the above-said case is linked with the north is the last-ditch effort of those who face destruction as it is a premeditated and deliberate plot to tide over a serious crisis created due to the total failure of its domestic and foreign policies and smoothly stage the "elections to the local self-governing bodies" in a bid to maintain the fascist rule and bring the inter-Korean relations to a collapse.

The puppet forces are now kicking up such fuss as creating atmosphere reminiscent of a wartime situation in south Korea, blustering they would not "rule out a war" and crying out for "counter-measures", urgently evacuating the personnel, equipment and materials of the south side from the areas of the north side and issuing top secret order for taking steps for personal safety and making preparations for withdrawal.

This racket reminding one of an eve of a war goes to prove that the group's recent publication of the "results of investigation" was not a mere clarification of the sinking of the warship but a carefully calculated provocation to seek a pretext for igniting a war of aggression against the north together with outside forces.

The puppet group has created such grave situation on the Korean Peninsula that a war may break out right now.

Pursuant to the statement issued by a spokesman for the National Defence Commission, the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea solemnly declares as follows, speaking for the DPRK government authorities:

Firstly, from now on the DPRK will regard the present situation as the phase of a war and decisively handle all matters arising in the inter-Korean relations to cope with it.

Secondly, in case the puppet group opts for "counter-action" and "retaliation" under the pretext of the sinking of the warship, the DPRK will strongly react to them with such merciless punishment as the total freeze of the inter-Korean relations, the complete abrogation of the north-south agreement on non-aggression and a total halt to the inter-Korean cooperation undertakings.

The DPRK will never pardon anyone hurting its supreme dignity and doing harm to it, warned the statement.

http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2010/201005/news21/20100521-03ee.html

* Related articles:
☞ Seoul firing blanks at North Korea (Asia Times, 5.20)

☞ Questions raised following Cheonan announcement (Hankyoreh, 5.21)

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While since today - surprise, surprise!! - 'Seoul officially held Pyongyang responsible for the sinking of the "CheonAn" navy frigate', not everyone in S. Korea seems to be really convinced...

Unsurprisingly(^^), today's ("left"-liberal)Hankyoreh has some problems with the "evidences" provided by the "Int'l Investigation Team":

Indisputable evidence?

A Korean military official points at the fragment of a propeller labeled “I am North Korea” and says, “I found it!”
   The fragment has been presented as the evidence that North Korea was responsible for the attack on sunken Navy vessel Cheonan by the joint military-civilian investigation team.　
   The joint investigation team has insisted that serial number on the fragment of a propeller includes North Korean-style characters. Some, however, have voiced concern about the announcement, saying that this fragment may be too old to trace to the manufacturer.
   According to Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House) spokesman Lee Dong-kwan, during a telephone conversation between President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama yesterday, Lee promised to present “indisputable evidence” in reporting the findings of the joint military-civilian investigation team.

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_entertainment/421693.html

Related stuff:
☞ Seoul: N. Korean torpedo sank ship (al-Jazeera)

☞ DPRK warns retaliation will triger "all-out" war (Xinhua) 

☞ North Korea slams report that it torpedoed... (CNN) 

☞ Tension set to heighten as Seoul takes steps (K. Herald) 

☞ 'The Official Announcement Edition' (Marmot's Hole) 

☞ Gov't warns against 'groundless rumors' (K. Times)