The south Korean authorities which hamstrung every effort for detente on the Korean Peninsula finally perpetrated the armed provocation in the West Sea of Korea, pushing the situation to a very grave phase, the statement noted, and continued:

The "northern limit line" is an illegal bogus line unilaterally drawn by the U.S. However, the south side opened fire at a naval patrol boat of the north side, talking about its "trespassing" on the line. This was an intolerable military provocation.

The statement recalled that after the occurrence of the incident different circles described it as a "conflict produced by the U.S. pressure on the north and the government's hard-line policy" and the public was of the view that such incident would not have happened if the October 4 declaration had been implemented.

If the authorities refuse to opt for implementing the declaration, it will entail catastrophic consequences, the statement warned, saying that all people would intensify the actions critical of the authorities' confrontation moves and demanding the implementation of the south-north declarations.