The statement noted that the situation on the Korean Peninsula reached the worst state on the brink of a war as the south Korean authorities groundlessly took issue with the DPRK after faking up misinformation.

Under the prevailing situation on the Korean Peninsula, the league vehemently denounces the south Korean authorities, the U.S. and its following forces for their anti-DPRK smear campaign and extends firm support and solidarity to the Korean people in their efforts to exercise their legitimate right to self-defense to protect their sovereignty, the statement said.

The British Branch of the Korean Friendship Association headquartered in Spain also released a statement on May 24 in support of the statements made public by the spokesmen for the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, the Foreign Ministry and the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea.

Saying that the warship sinking was a farce deliberately orchestrated by the U.S. and the south Korean authorities to deteriorate the situation, the statement demanded that the U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet clique immediately roll back the hostile policy towards the DPRK and conduct a thorough-going investigation into the case.

The British government and media, too, called for refraining from encouraging the U.S. and the south Korean authorities in their anti-DPRK smear campaign, fully supporting the just stand of the DPRK on the case.

On the same day, Antti Sika Aho, chairman of the Finland-Korea Society, in the statement issued on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the publication of the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration charged that the case of warship sinking is nothing but a trickery aimed to further strengthen the foundation of the south Korean ruling forces and legalize the U.S. forces' presence in south Korea by creating a new crisis on the Korean Peninsula.