The keynote of the statement is to maintain the stand of national independence in settling the issue of the country's reunification and the three principles of national reunification--independence, peaceful reunification and great national unity--clarified by the statement are the most correct way for ending the national division and achieving the peaceful reunification, the article said, adding:

The publication of the statement was a fruition of the wise leadership of President Kim Il Sung.

However, no sooner had the Park Chung-hee military "government" signed the joint statement than it turned down the statement at the prodding of the U.S., the article charged.

It praised Chairman of the National Defence Commission Kim Jong Il for providing the historic June 15 joint declaration and the October 4 declaration which embodied the spirit of the statement and thus ushering in the June 15 era of reunification.

However, the declarations were reduced to dead papers and the inter-Korean relations were driven to the worst phase by the Lee Myung Bak regime and the present regime of south Korea which took power with the active backing of the U.S., it held.

It called for constantly adhering to the three principles of national reunification clarified by the July 4 North-South Joint Statement.

It called on all Koreans at home and abroad to turn out in a patriotic struggle to wipe out by their concerted efforts the outside forces checking the peaceful reunification of the Korean nation and the sycophantic and treacherous forces kowtowing to them in order to open the second June 15 era of reunification.