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Dangerous Developments on the Korean Peninsula DPRK Draws Conclusions on Continued U.S. WarmongeringOn June 12, the Foreign Minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Ri Song Gwon, issued a statement on the second anniversary of the historic June 12, 2018 DPRK-U.S. Summit that took place in Singapore. The Summit between Chairman Kim Jong Un, leader of the DPRK and President Donald Trump of the U.S. was aimed at establishing a new relationship between the DPRK and the U.S. that would end hostilities between the two countries and lead to peace and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
He added that the desire of the people of the two countries to put an end to the "world's most antagonistic relations between the DPRK and the U.S. and open a new cooperative era of peace and prosperity runs as deep as ever. Yet the situation on the Korean Peninsula is daily taking a turn for the worse." The foreign minister pointed out that to foster positive relations and demonstrate its good faith, the DPRK shut down its northern nuclear test site [the Punggye-ri nuclear testing site -- TML Ed. Note.], released U.S. citizens accused of committing crimes against the DPRK, and repatriated scores of remains of U.S. soldiers killed or missing in action during the Korean War. He highlighted that the DPRK took the initiative to suspend nuclear tests and test launches of Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles as confidence-building measures between the DPRK and the U.S. In his statement Ri observed that these measures by the DPRK were simply used by President Trump for self-serving public relations announcements. Foreign Minister Ri pointed out that behind the claims of wanting improved relations with the DPRK the U.S. has gone in the opposite direction, turning the Korean Peninsula "into the world's most dangerous hotspot haunted uninterruptedly by the ghost of nuclear war" which undermines the possibility of a durable and lasting peace that both countries committed to. "The DPRK is still on the U.S. list of targets for preemptive nuclear strike and all kinds of nuclear strike tools held by the U.S. are aimed directly at the DPRK," Ri noted. As evidence he pointed to "nuclear strategic bombers, which fly anytime into south Korean Airspace for nuclear strike drills and aircraft carrier strike groups which bustle around the seas surrounding south Korea." The Foreign Minister also noted that the U.S. continues to introduce "a large number of modern, cutting-edge hardware like stealth fighters and reconnaissance drones worth tens of billions of U.S. dollars" to boost the offensive capability of the south Korean army while burdening the south Korean authorities with the cost of these weapons. The DPRK Foreign Minister noted that for the last two years the DPRK has been subject to "totally unjust and anachronistic practices" that clearly show that the U.S. aims to continue a policy of regime change in the DPRK, carry out threats for a preemptive nuclear strike and pursue the isolation and suffocation of the DPRK. He underscored that unless the "70-plus-year deep-rooted hostile policy of the U.S. towards the DPRK is fundamentally terminated, the U.S. will as ever remain a long-term threat to our state, our system and our people." Foreign Minister Ri notes that based on the evidence, there is no need for the DPRK to hold out hope for improvement of relations with the U.S. on the basis of the personal relations between Chairman Kim Jong Un and President Trump and that the DPRK will not provide President Trump with another opportunity to shore up his self-serving political ends and getting empty promises in return. The DPRK Foreign Minister concludes by pointing out that in the face of this reality, the decision taken by the DPRK and Chairman Kim Jong Un at the recent Fourth Enlarged Meeting of the Seventh Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea, was to further boost "the national nuclear war deterrent to cope with the U.S.'s unabated threats of nuclear war" and that was the DPRK's message to the U.S. on the second anniversary of the DPRK-U.S. Singapore Summit.
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"What stands out
is that the hope for improved DPRK-U.S. relations
-- which was high
under the global spotlight two years ago, has now
been shifted into
despair characterized by spiraling deterioration
and that a slim ray of
optimism and peace and prosperity on the Korean
Peninsula has faded
away into a dark nightmare," Foreign Minister Ri
said.