DPRK blames US for Cheonan sinking

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Wednesday accused the United States of plotting the Cheonan sinking and using the incident to step up hostility against Pyongyang.

On March 26, 2010, the Republic of Korea's Cheonan warship sank off the country's west coast, killing 46 people. Seoul said the corvette was sunk by torpedoes fired by the DPRK, a charge repeatedly denied by Pyongyang.

"The US is the arch-criminal that engineered the case by instigating the South Korean puppet forces," said a statement issued by the Panmunjom mission of the Korean People's Army and carried by the official news agency KCNA on Wednesday, one day ahead of the fifth anniversary of the sinking of the corvette.

"It (the Cheonan sinking) was orchestrated by the US out of its sinister intention to hold control of South Korea and Japan, use them as a shock brigade in realizing its ambition for world domination and intensify the moves to isolate and stifle the DPRK after securing justifications for arms buildup in the region," the statement said.

The statement criticized Washington for standing in the way of the investigation into the truth behind the incident, saying the US was "a backstage wirepuller" that caused Seoul to fabricate the story about the torpedo attack by the DPRK.

The statement urged the US to admit its involvement and offer an apology to the public.

Not long after the incident, Seoul halted inter-Korean trade and aid projects and banned ROK residents' visits to the north.

The ROK military on Wednesday conducted naval training exercises to mark the fifth anniversary.

The maneuvers involved a naval force of some 10 battleships, including a 3,200-metric-ton destroyer and a 1,200-metric-ton corvette, the same size as the Cheonan. The ships took part in firing exercises with guns that have a range of 12 to 23 kilometers.