Rodong Sinmun Monday says this in a signed article, and goes on:

A madcap shelling exercise staged by the puppet forces in the waters off Yonphyong Island in the West Sea of Korea on Dec. 20, naval maneuvers conducted by a puppet navy fleet in the East Sea of Korea in its wake and the large-scale joint firing exercises staged by the puppet ground and air forces of south Korea in the central sector of the front, etc. were the products of the dangerous collusion between the U.S. and the south Korean puppet authorities.

The south Korean conservative authorities seek a way out of their ever-deepening ruling crisis in boosting cooperation with the U.S. and escalating the confrontation with fellow countrymen.

They consider this as leverage for getting rid of the crisis and confusion and staying in power. They orchestrated the Yonphyong Island shelling incident to achieve this purpose.

By perpetrating military provocations one after another in the West Sea of Korea the south Korean puppet forces sought to divert elsewhere the south Korean people's attention and realize their wild ambition to invade the DPRK.

It was none other than the U.S. that egged those forces on to spark off the above-said shelling incident and escalate the tension on the Korean peninsula.

The U.S. is keen on increasing the tension on the peninsula, opposed to any process to preserve peace on it. This is designed to save its policy towards Asia and its strategy towards the DPRK from their repeated failures and retain its supremacy over the region.

Armed clashes have not occurred in the West Sea of Korea despite the dangerous collusion between the U.S. and south Korean war-like forces aimed at provoking a war of aggression against the DPRK. This is entirely thanks to the pluck, the self-restraint and steadfast will of the DPRK to preserve peace.

But there is a limit to its patience, too.

The puppet regime of south Korea is so despicable and coward that it cannot maintain its power even a moment without the protection of its American master. Its desperate efforts to do harm to the DPRK in reliance on this master would only precipitate its self-destruction.