DPRK scraps accords with South Korea

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Source: CCTV.com | 01-31-2009 10:30

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea says it's scrapping all agreements with South Korea on ending political and military confrontation.

Seoul says it deeply regrets the DPRK's decision and is urging Pyongyang to defuse tensions through dialogue.

View of the North Korean capital Pyongyang in 2007.  North Korea has announced it is scrapping agreements with  South Korea on easing military tensions, accusing Seoul  of pushing relations to the brink of war.(AFP/File)

The Reunification Committee of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea blames what it calls the hostile policy of the government of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

The committee says the situation on the peninsula has reached a point in which there is "neither a way to improve relations nor hope to bring them on track."

The South Korean Unification Ministry is urging Pyongyang to come forward and take part in dialogue.

Kim Ho-nyeon, spokesman, South Korean Unification Ministry, said, "Agreements between the South and the North are revised under mutual consent from both nations, so they cannot be discarded by one side's assertion. We have stuck to it, and our stance remains the same."

The tension between the DPRK and South Korea has raised the possibility of a naval clash along the disputed maritime border on the Yellow Sea.

The South Korean Defense Ministry says it will take firm counteraction against any attempt by the DPRK to violate its sea border on the Yellow Sea.

The South Korean military has stepped up its monitoring activities along the border.

Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul have soured since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office last February with a pledge to get tough with the DPRK.

Editor:Zhang Yun