However, from the outset of the year the south Korean authorities are getting busy staging war exercises and anti-north psychological warfare in collusion with outside forces to incite confrontation.

It is shame on the south Korean authorities to play into the hands of the U.S. keen to sow discord among Koreans still now.

The tragic history of the split of the Korean nation started entirely due to the U.S.

In August 1945 when the Second World War was about to end, the U.S. cooked up the demarcation line in a sinister bid to occupy the southern half of the Korean peninsula at least and illegally put south Korea under its forces' occupation. The U.S. cooked up the Syngman Rhee puppet regime through the "May 10 separate election" in 1948 and worked hard to perpetuate Korea's division.

In the 1950s the U.S. ignited the Korean War, blocking the north and the south of Korea from advancing toward reunification. In the 1960s it chilled the atmosphere for reunification growing through alliance with the north under the slogan "Let us go north, come south, let us meet at Panmunjom!" and fabricated a lot of conspiratorial cases.

The July 4 joint statement which clarified the three principles for national reunification was made public between the north and the south and enthusiasm for reunification ran high across the country in the 1970s. Much upset by this, the U.S. put forth the "proposal for simultaneous entry into the UN" and "theory of cross recognition" in an effort to create "two Koreas".

When diverse dialogues took place and the door was opened for exchange and cooperation between the north and the south in the 1980s and 1990s, the U.S. ran amuck, staging nuclear war rackets against the DPRK including Team Spirit joint military drills to block the way of reunification.

When two summits were held between the north and the south, adopting the June 15 joint declaration and the October 4 declaration and bringing about a turning phase for reunification in the 2000s, the U.S. egged pro-U.S. lackey Lee Myung Bak on to nullify the declarations.

There was a sign of moves for mending the north-south relations thanks to the DPRK's positive and sincere efforts in recent years. But the U.S. staged madcap war exercises of various forms including Key Resolve and Foal Eagle with huge armed forces for aggression involved. Consequently, the situation was driven to an extreme pitch of tension.

As the DPRK advanced a landmark proposal for opening up a broad avenue to national reunification by concerted efforts of all Koreans in the new year, the U.S. issues "a presidential executive order" calling for imposing "new sanctions" upon the major institutions, organizations and individuals of the DPRK to chill the atmosphere of reconciliation between the north and the south.

The special representative for north Korea policy of the U.S. Department of State at a recent hearing of the House of Representatives openly forced the south Korean authorities not to turn out in the process for mending the inter-Korean relations, asserting that the north-south dialogue should be "helpful to denuclearization".

The U.S. is now in mortal dread of the high-running ardent enthusiasm for reunification and spirit for reconciliation and unity of Koreans. It is leaving no despicable means untried to check the inter-Korean dialogue and improvement of relations.

Nevertheless, the south Korean authorities are blindly following outside forces, unaware of the U.S. intrigues to sow discord among Koreans.

In spite of several warnings of the DPRK the south Korean authorities made it a fait accompli to stage war drills against the fellow countrymen in collusion with outside forces under the pretext of "maintaining of alliance system" and "strengthening the security posture" from the outset of the year. They together with the U.S. formed the south Korea-U.S. combined division for disabling the nuclear weapons and missiles of the DPRK and launching "special civil operations in the north" and put it into operation.

They unhesitatingly commit the grave treacherous act of allowing human scum to conduct anti-DPRK psychological warfare to malignantly hurt its dignity and social system, rendering situation in the forefront area tense from the outset of the year.

They have gone the lengths of decrying the DPRK's historic measures for national reunification praised by the world, asserting that "their sincerity" is doubtful and they are meant to "take initiative."

It is self-evident that sincere dialogue and the improvement of the north-south relations cannot take place amid the dreadful atmosphere in which war exercises are staged to do harm to fellow countrymen with the help of outside forces.

The south Korean authorities should stop all the war moves including reckless military drills with outside forces and choose the way for defusing the tension and creating a peaceful environment on the Korean peninsula.

The south Korean authorities should unconditionally cancel joint military drills Key Resolve and Foal Eagle to be staged from early March and Ulji Freedom Guardian scheduled for August.

They can never imagine the consequences to be entailed by their misjudgment of the DPRK's sincerity and good will to put an end to the history of national split.

If the south Korean authorities continue wrongdoings while following outside forces, going against the requirements of the nation and the times, this will only precipitate their final destruction.