Asia-Pacific

DPRK to do best to guarantee peace of peninsula

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-02-23 22:55

PYONGYANG - The military of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday said the DPRK would do its best to improve the north-south relationship to guarantee the peace and stability of the Korea Peninsula, the official news agency KCNA reported.

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According to the report, the inspection group of the DPRK National Defense Commission made the remarks in a statement issued Wednesday to disclose the truth of the shelling incident on Yonphyong Islet.

The incident took place because Republic of Korea (ROK) fired at the DPRK side firstly and the DPRK had to fight back. ROK rekindled the conflict with an aim of maintaining the illegal "north border, " denying the two  "declarations"  and involving the US in its plot of aggression toward the north, said the statement.

It was the US that manipulated the incident, said the statement, pointing out that the US tried to form a system of military confrontation by accelerating tensions on the peninsula in order to realize its ambition of dominating the world.

The statement stressed nobody should cling to the incident and carry out confrontational policy as the incident is a segment of "ignominious history." Otherwise the north-south relationship won't be improved and the peace and stability won't be realized, the statement added.

The DPRK and ROK fired at each other with artillery near the disputed "north border" on the waters to the west of the peninsula on Nov 23. ROK unilaterally set a "north border" between the five islands of the West Sea and the west coastline of the DPRK, who never admitted the border. The warships of the two countries have exchanged fire three times, in 1999, 2002 and 2009.