2010-08-10 13:53

PYONGYANG - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday urged South Korea to create peaceful atmosphere in a bid to resolve disputes between the two countries, the official news agency KCNA reported.

"The South Korean authorities conducted the largest-ever joint naval war exercises targeted against the DPRK as part of the 'military countermeasures' in the wake of the 'Cheonan' case. This is an undisguised military threat to the DPRK and provocation against it," it quoted a  commentary carried by the Rodong Sinmun newspaper as saying Tuesday.

"The situation clearly shows that the war exercises staged by the puppet forces in the West Sea of Korea were not 'defensive exercises' but  deliberate military provocation to ignite a war against the DPRK. The most urgent issue on the Korean Peninsula, where a touch-and-go situation prevails, is to create a peaceful atmosphere," it said.

"All the anti-DPRK war exercises conducted in South Korea constituted a factor that aggravated the confrontation and tension between the north and the south and hindered the national reunification," it added.

South Korea and the United States staged a joint naval exercise in the East Sea of Korea late July and the former held a five-day military drill in the Yellow Sea early August. The two countries also declared that a series of military exercises would be held later this year, including one code named "Ulji Freedom Guardian" from August 16 to 26.