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N. Korea blames U.S. for worsening conditions on Korean Peninsula

North Korea on Sunday stepped up its efforts to blame the United States for what it perceives as worsening conditions on the Korean Peninsula.

In an article carried by the Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, the North accused Washington of starting the 1950-53 Korean War and called the superpower a "criminal" for discarding the Armistice Agreement that halted the conflict. It also said Washington is the "real culprit" behind the current nuclear crisis.

The daily, which effectively reflects the views of the communist country's leadership, claimed that the joint military exercises carried out around the Korean Peninsula by South Korea, the United States and Japan are all aimed at waging war against Pyongyang. It said Washington's hostile policy stance against the North is the root cause behind peace and stability being threatened in the region.

It added that while the communist country recently proposed high-level talks with the United States to resolve outstanding differences, Washington has only responded by calling on the North to first show its resolve on denuclearization and halt provocations.

The paper, monitored in Seoul, said such claims were gibberish and made no sense whatsoever.

It pointed out that Pyongyang's goal for denuclearization is not limited to the country giving up its nuclear deterrence but striving for the denuclearization of the entire Korean Peninsula that includes South Korea.

"The denuclearization we seek is the end once and for all of the nuclear threat posed by the United States," the Rodong Sinmun stressed.

It, meanwhile, pointed out that the United States is moving to sell US$800 million worth of weapons to South Korea and argued that if Washington wants peace and stability, it needs to give up tactics that try to intimidate its foes, fuel an arms race and stir concerns of war.

Related to the latest arguments, North Korea's Ambassador to the United Nations Sin Son-ho said in a rare press conference in New York on Friday that another military conflict is possible at any time as long as U.S. maintains its hostile stance toward Pyongyang.

The envoy said the United States must move to disband the United Nations Command and sign off on a formal peace treaty to replace the cease-fire armistice that halted hostilities 60 years ago.

It said that unless the United States accepts such calls, there is no way to erase tensions and war fears in the region. (Yonhap News)