Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Total Dismantlement of S. Korea-U.S. "Combined Command" Demanded

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK via Korea News Service (KNS)

   Pyongyang, November 7 (KCNA) -- The south Korea-U.S. "Combined Command", a military mechanism for aggression to carry out the U.S. strategy against the DPRK, should be totally dismantled. Rodong Sinmun Tuesday demands this in a signed commentary carried 28 years since it came into being on Nov. 7, 1978. Since its inception the command has played the role as a principal mechanism for establishing the U.S. military domination over south Korea and stepping up the preparations for a war against the DPRK, pursuant to the U.S. imperialists' strategy against it, commentary observes, and goes on:
    The public at home and abroad is becoming increasingly assertive for the disorganization of the above-said command. It is against this backdrop that there is opinion calling for the dismantlement of the command over the issue of "transferring the right to control wartime operations between the U.S. and south Korea.
    Why does the U.S. intend to give up the command at this moment?
    The U.S. imperialists' intention to transfer the above-said right to the south Korean army and disorganize the combined command does not mean their willingness to halt their moves for a war against the DPRK, much less terminating the presence of their forces in south Korea or abandoning their right to command and control the south Korean army. This only reveals their sinister intention to escalate them in a smoother manner.
    This is evidenced by the U.S. intention to set up a new operational cooperation headquarters for both peace and war times as a substitute for the combined command in case of transfer of the above-said right.
    The projected new headquarters is different from the existing command in name only because it will play the same function as it has so far done.
    The U.S. imperialists went in south Korea under the signboard of the "UN Command" when they felt the need to do so and used the signboard of the "U.S. Army Command" present in south Korea and the south Korea-U.S. "Combined Command" when they needed that. Now they are seeking another signboard to achieve their objective.
    All facts indicate that as long as the U.S. imperialist aggressor troops remain in south Korea and the U.S. persistently pursues its policy of aggression against the DPRK, the U.S. loud-mouthed "transfer of the right to control wartime operations and disorganization of the "combined command" are nothing but charade as they are senseless and spurious.
    The south Korea-U.S. "Combined Command" should be totally disorganized. And this will come true only when an end is put to the U.S. presence in south Korea and its policy of aggression towards the DPRK.