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KPA Panmunjom mission issues memorandum

Korean Central News Agency

Release Date: 7/25/2003

Pyongyang, July 23 (KCNA) -- The Panmunjom mission of the Korean People's Army issued a long memorandum today on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement (AA). Citing facts, the memorandum indicts the United States for violating all key articles of the AA which stipulates the prevention of the outbreak of another war in Korea and a peaceful solution to the Korean issue and exposing the Korean Peninsula to a nuclear threat and a constant danger of war. Paragraph 60 of the AA stipulates that "in order to insure the peaceful settlement of the Korean question, the military commanders of both sides hereby recommend to the governments of the countries concerned on both sides that, within three months after the armistice agreement is signed and becomes effective, a political conference of a higher level of both sides be held by representatives appointed respectively to settle through negotiation the questions of the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Korea, the peaceful settlement of the Korean question, etc." But the U.S. left no means untried to prevent the political conference from being held, the memorandum says, and continues:

The U.S. concluded the "mutual defense pact" with South Korea on August 8, 1953 in a bid to legalize the U.S. forces' presence in South Korea, openly challenging paragraph 60 of the AA which envisages withdrawing all foreign forces.

In only nine months after the ceasefire the U.S. illegally introduced 177 combat planes, 465 artillery pieces of various calibers, 6,400 rockets, 1,365 machine guns and millions of various artillery shells and bullets into South Korea in violation of sub-paragraph 13 d of the AA which stipulates that "the commanders of the opposing sides shall cease the introduction into Korea of reinforcing combat aircraft, armored vehicles, weapons, and ammunitions."

When this was detected by the neutral nations inspection teams the U.S. let guard, senior member of the U.S. forces side, declare at the 70th meeting of the military armistice commission held on May 31, 1956 that the allied forces were notifying the stoppage of the implementation of the part related to them in the AA article which stipulates duties to be performed by the neutral nations supervisory commission and the neutral nations inspection teams in areas under the control of the allied forces side. Later, it deported all members of the inspection teams who were active at five ports of south Korea at the same time.

Before scrapping sub-paragraph 13 d of the AA the then U.S. State Secretary Dulles, Defense Secretary Wilson, the chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff and other officials in top echelon of the U.S. administration openly stated that the scrapping of the sub-paragraph was inevitable.

At the 75th meeting of the military armistice commission on June 21, 1957, the U.S. officially declared that it was giving up implementing sub-paragraph 13 d of the AA, letting loose the ridiculous jargon that it could not but introduce new types of weapons as it did not produce old types, so as to keep the "relative balance of military forces."

On the same day the U.S. Defense Department officially declared the U.S. government decision to introduce new types of weapons into South Korea.

In the wake of this unilateral scrapping of the sub-paragraph the U.S. moved the "UN command" to Seoul from Tokyo in July 1957 and massively introduced new types of weapons into South Korea, stepping up war preparations in real earnest and in full scale.

The government of the DPRK issued a statement on June 26, 1957 in which it proposed convening an international conference involving countries concerned in order to pull back all foreign forces from Korea, ensure a lasting peace and promote the peaceful settlement of the Korean question. On February 5, 1958 it made public another statement proposing a simultaneous withdrawal of all foreign forces including the U.S. forces and the Chinese People's Volunteers from Korea.

Out of the desire to pave the way for a peaceful settlement of the Korean issue, the Korean-Chinese side took initiative by declaring the unilateral withdrawal of the Chinese People's Volunteers from Korea. The withdrawal was completed by October 26, 1958. Nearly 45 years have passed since then but the U.S. still keeps its forces in South Korea.

The U.S. dismantled the neutral nations inspection teams belonging to the neutral nations supervisory commission and the joint inspection team belonging to the military armistice commission, considering them to be stumbling blocks in the way of its preparations for a new Korean War. It has since worked hard for a long time to disorganize the commissions, the only remaining bodies for supervising the implementation of the armistice agreement.

On March 25, 1991 the U.S. appointed a general of the South Korean army who had neither qualification nor mandate to handle the AA-related issues the senior member of the U.S. side to the Military Armistice Commission. This was an open mockery of the commission intended to wreck it.

As the Military Armistice Commission was put out of existence, the neutral nations supervisory commission automatically disintegrated as it lost the object to work with.

Now in Panmunjom there no longer exist the military armistice commission and the neutral nations supervisory commission that were to supervise the implementation of the AA. As a result, provisions of the AA related to the military armistice commission I.E. from paragraph 19 to 35 of article 2 and provisions related to the neutral nations supervisory commission id est from paragraph 36 to 50 of the article were all reduced to dead letters. The AA is now in danger of being totally scrapped due to the U.S. moves to stifle the DPRK.

The U.S. is planning to arm the U.S. troops in South Korea with ultra-modern military hardware to be introduced there at the cost of 11 billion U.S. dollars after working out a new "arms buildup plan." It is also instigating Japan and other satellites to naval and aerial blockades against the DPRK.

The arms buildup and blockade moves are, needless to say, acts of scrapping the AA and war actions. notably, "Operation Plan 5030", a new war scenario worked out by the U.S. Defense Department, goes to clearly prove what a dangerous phase the U.S. has reached in its military moves as it was worked out in total defiance of the present AA.

The U.S. unilaterally recoiled from implementing the sub-paragraph 13 d of the AA long ago and has turned South Korea into the biggest nuclear arsenal in the Far East by introducing huge nuclear weapons into it and is now openly calling for a preemptive nuclear attack. Under this situation it is indisputably clear that a war in Korea would be a merciless one in which the U.S. preemptive nuclear attack on the DPRK would meet with the latter's retaliation.

The DPRK is ready for any war of showdown.