Puppet Minister of Unification Hyon In Thaek, addressing a session of the "National Assembly," again ballyhooed about the "possible contingency" and "a tourist case in Mt. Kumgang." The group of the "Grand National Party" prattled that "one should not attribute the deteriorated south-north relations to the policy of the present government towards the north."

The Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea in its information bulletin No. 957 issued on Monday termed this a treacherous action and an intolerable grave provocation aimed to cover up the true colors of the puppet group as violators of the June 15 joint declaration, justify its policy of confrontation with fellow countrymen and evade the responsibility for having pushed the inter-Korean relations to a collapse and the brink of a war.

It is ridiculous, indeed, for the group to charge someone with "violation" and the like, the information bulletin noted, and continued:

The above-said outbursts let loose by the puppet group are nothing but a cynical ploy and a last-ditch effort to escape the south Korean people's protest and domestic and foreign public criticism of the racket kicked off by it over the case of the sunk warship and the political crisis caused by its heavy defeat in the "elections to the local self-governing bodies" and the crime it committed by bringing the inter-Korean relations to a total collapse.

If the Lee Myung Bak group keeps rushing headlong into confrontation and war, persistently denying the June 15 joint declaration in defiance of the warnings of the public, it will not be able to escape a final destruction.

Hyong In Thaek, in particular, will be the first to be judged for having pursued only confrontation and war in collusion with outside forces, standing in the way of the process to improve the inter-Korean relations.

The Lee Myung Bak group would be well advised to face up to the trend of the times and properly understand the desire of the public and stop going ridiculous.