Asia-Pacific

DPRK vows to fire at ROK's propaganda broadcast

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-24 17:46

The Republic of Korea's soldiers check speakers, which were used to broadcast propaganda toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, during a photo opportunity at a guard post near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas in Yanggu, northeast of Seoul May 24, 2010. [Agencies]

PYONGYANG -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) vowed on Monday that if Seoul deployed propaganda loudspeakers along the border line, the DPRK military would fire at and destroy them, the official Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

According to KCNA, the commander of forces of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in the central sector of the front issued an open warning to the Republic of Korea (ROK) that if the south refused to remove the anti-DPRK slogan and loudspeakers set up along the Military Demarcation Line, the KPA would "start the firing of direct sighting shots to destroy them."

Related readings:  DPRK urges ROK to receive inspectors from Pyongyang  ROK President slams DPRK's torpedo attack  DPRK accuses US of continuing anti-DPRK policy  Seoul: Ship 'torpedoed by DPRK'  DPRK snaps back at Seoul for jeopardizing ties

The commander said Seoul's moves to resume the psychological warfare against the DPRK was "an open breach of the inter-Korean military agreement, a grave military provocation to the DPRK and a serious incident driving the inter-Korean relations to the worst phase."

He stressed if the ROK continued challenging the DPRK with such moves, the KPA will "eliminate the root cause of the provocations with stronger physical strike."

The two neighbors on the Korean Peninsula reached a deal in June 2004 demanding both sides to stop all propaganda campaigns including loudspeaker broadcasting and slogans from August 15 of that year.

Yet since the March sinking of ROK's warship Cheonan that killed 46 sailors on board, tensions have notably escalated between the two countries.

Seoul blamed the deadly incident on a DPRK torpedo attack, and is seeking international support for punishing Pyongyang. However, the DPRK firmly denies the charge and insists on sending its own inspection team to verify the evidence.

Meanwhile, the ROK government on Monday announced to put on hold all exchanges and trade with Pyongyang and to hold military drills aimed at deterring "further aggression" of the DPRK.