A spokesman for the DPRK National Defence Commission issued a statement on Saturday clarifying the principled stand of the army and people of the DPRK in this regard.

It said: The U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet forces are planning to stage joint naval exercises in the East Sea of Korea from July 25 to 28, the "Ulji Freedom Guardian" joint exercises and joint anti-submarine exercises in the West Sea of Korea from August 16 to 26 and different ceaseless joint naval exercises from late in August to early in September and other drills. All these war maneuvers are nothing but outright provocations aimed to stifle the DPRK by force of arms to all intents and purposes.

If the publication of the results of investigation into the "Cheonan" case which was faked up by the U.S. imperialists at instigation of their puppet forces was the first reckless military provocation to the DPRK, the joint naval maneuvers they are to stage even with nuclear strike means involved under the pretext of the above-said case amount to an unpardonable second military provocation to the DPRK, the statement noted, and continued:

The chief architect of the warship case seems to send a "message as deterrence" to somebody while staging offensive exercises under the pretext of the forged case after falsifying its truth. This is as reckless an act as waking up a sleeping tiger.

The DPRK National Defence Commission re-clarifies the following principled stand as regards this abnormal situation where the U.S. and the south Korean puppet forces are threatening this land with a nuclear war under the pretext of the "Cheonan" case:

The army and people of the DPRK will legitimately counter with their powerful nuclear deterrence the largest-ever nuclear war exercises to be staged by the U.S. and the south Korean puppet forces.

The more desperately the U.S. imperialists brandish their nukes and the more zealously their lackeys follow them, the more rapidly the DPRK's nuclear deterrence will be bolstered up along the orbit of self-defence and the more remote the prospect for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula will be become.

The army and people of the DPRK will start a retaliatory sacred war of their own style based on nuclear deterrent any time necessary in order to counter the U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet forces deliberately pushing the situation to the brink of a war.

Now that the U.S. imperialists are persisting in their direct military provocations in gross violation of the spirit of the September 19 joint statement in which they promised not to attack or invade the DPRK with either nuclear or conventional weapons, it is a natural option of the army and people of the DPRK to take corresponding all-out retaliatory measures.

The army and people of the DPRK will take all steps to the last to thoroughly probe the truth behind the case under the situation where the U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet forces persistently and deliberately link the DPRK with the "Cheonan" case.

It is a legitimate and sovereign right to protect the honor and dignity of the DPRK for them to probe the truth about the despicable "fabrication" and "charade."

The U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet forces will keenly realize what high price they will have to pay for their reckless military provocation rendering the situation on the Korean Peninsula to the worst phase under the pretext of the "Cheonan" case.