The DPRK side branded the proposal for creating a "joint assessment group" made by the U.S. forces' side at the last round of the contact as a politically motivated provocation as it wantonly infringes upon the sovereignty and dignity of the DPRK in disregard of international law including the United Nations Charter and brigandish sophism running diametrically counter to the provisions of the Armistice Agreement.

The U.S. forces side came out with an absurd proposal on allowing to inspect the military base of the DPRK to counter its proposal for inspecting objects directly related to the "Cheonan" case such as the already disclosed scene of the case and material evidence, the DPRK side said, and continued:

As far as the inspection of the military bases is concerned, this logic of the U.S. forces side means calling for inspecting before any others not only the U.S. military bases in Ryongsan, Osan, Kunsan and other places in south Korea where large-scale frantic nuclear war exercises are staged against the DPRK before and after the "Cheonan" case but also the U.S. Forces Command, a center for fabrications and plots.

In a nutshell, the proposal of the U.S. forces side is nothing but a sinister intention to deliberately link the "Cheonan" case with the DPRK, justify its reckless hostile acts under the pretence of it and put brake on probing the truth behind the case.

What is the most urgent and important matter in settling the case is to give precedence to the field investigation by an inspection group of the DPRK National Defence Commission, the DPRK side stressed, pointing to the following reasons:

Firstly, the DPRK intends to dispatch the inspection group of its National Defence Commission because the U.S. forces side groundlessly links the DPRK with the warship case in collusion with the south Korean puppet group.

Should the U.S. forces side talk nonsense, the DPRK side would not have called for the field survey of the inspection group of the NDC from the outset.

Secondly, the "results of investigation", a product of conspiracy and tie-up between the U.S. and the south Korean puppet group, are beset with doubts as they are unilateral and unscientific.

Thirdly, the demand for investigation by the NDC inspection group fully conforms with the agenda of the DPRK-U.S. military general-level talks.

Both sides adopted "On clarifying the truth about the 'Cheonan' warship case on an objective and scientific basis" as the agenda of the talks.

The DPRK side cited detailed facts to condemn the U.S. forces side for kicking up a racket of reckless military confrontation aimed at wrecking peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity under the pretext of the said case. And it warned that the army and people of the DPRK will take stronger counteraction unless the U.S. forces side stops military provocations against it.

The DPRK side declared that the U.S. forces side's persistent hindrance to the field investigation by the NDC inspection group and its insistence on the DPRK's involvement in the "Cheonan" case would harden the steadfast determination of the army and people of the DPRK to probe the truth about the case to the last.

Both sides agreed to hold the fourth round of the DPRK-U.S. senior colonel-level military working contact for probing the truth about the "Cheonan" case in Panmunjom around August 9.