The greatest victim of escalated tension and armed conflicts between the south and the north is just the entire Korean nation, it said, urging the present "government" to stop getting on the nerves of the north and keying up the military tension.

The "government" should promptly take substantial measures for defusing the tension in the West Sea of Korea through dialogue and normalize the relations with the north at an early date, it held.

Meanwhile former and incumbent professors affiliated to the Union of Professors, the Council of Professors for Democracy, the Council of Scientific Organization and other organizations released a joint declaration on Jan. 5. The declaration demanded that the authorities halt the reckless scheme to stifle the north and strive for the improved north-south relations in the main spirit of the June 15 joint declaration and the October 4 declaration.