DPRK to no longer deal with ROK's Lee

Xinhua, May 31, 2011

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said Monday it would "never deal with" South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and his government, accusing Seoul of trumping up false accusations against the DPRK and undermining its reconciliation efforts.

According to a statement issued by the DPRK's National Defence Commission, two more steps would be taken in this regard.

"The DPRK will launch a nationwide offensive to put an end to the moves of the Lee group to escalate the confrontation with the DPRK," the statement said.

The Korean People's Army would "cut off the north-south military communication in the area along the east coast" and "close the communication liaison office in Mt. Kumgang area," the statement announced.

"As already warned by the DPRK, it will take a physical action without any notice any time against any target to cope with the anti-DPRK psychological warfare," it added.

The statement said Lee's government is piling up false accusations against the DPRK's "revolution" and "socialist system," "undermining its national reconciliation and unity" and "laying a hurdle in the way of peace and prosperity."

It said South Korea is trying to stop the DPRK's legitimate measures for self-defense and driving the inter-Korean relations to "uncontrollable catastrophe."

Lee Myung-bak's government has been smearing the DPRK's efforts to achieve cooperation, peace and reunification through dialogue as "delaying tactics," the statement said.

The inter-Korean relations were further soured in March last year by the sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan. South Korea insists the warship was sunk by the DPRK's torpedo, an accusation the DPRK denies.

The two countries also exchanged fire off Yeonpyeong Island last November, leaving four South Koreans dead and prompting Seoul to begin to build up its forces on five front-line islands in the Yellow Sea.

South Korea's presidential office spokeswoman Kim Hee-jung Friday urged the DPRK to show sincere commitment to denuclearization before returning to the six-party nuclear talks, which came to a standstill when Pyongyang pulled out of the talks in 2009 in protest at UN sanctions proposed after its nuclear tests.