calendar>>January 19. 2019 Juche 108

Withdrawal of Joint Military Drill Plan Demanded in S. Korea

Pyongyang, January 19 (KCNA) -- A south Korean committee for promoting candlelight action for peace, which consists of over 80 civic, public and religious organizations, held a news conference in Seoul on Jan. 16 in demand of the withdrawal of the plan for the U.S.-south Korea joint military drill, according to the south Korean internet newspaper Tongil News.

The speakers referred to the fact that the south Korean authorities and the U.S. expressed their stand to resume a joint military drill aimed at carrying out OPLAN 5015 based on the "tailored deterrence strategy" and the strategy for a preemptive attack on the north.

Resuming the joint military drill constitutes a violation of the June 12 Singapore Joint Statement, the Panmunjom Declaration and the September Pyongyang Joint Declaration, which stands in the way for the inter-Korean dialogue and the development of the DPRK-U.S. relations, the speakers said.

They should not pursue an anachronistic confrontation and resort to resuming the hostile joint military drill any longer, but try to lift the sanctions on the north according to the inter-Korean and DPRK-U.S. agreements, the speakers stressed.