DPRK warns US, ROK against hostile acts

PYONGYANG - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) warned Sunday that it will take "more deadly retaliatory actions" if the United States and Republic of Korea (ROK) do not stop their reckless and hostile acts.

The DPRK made the warning as the naval forces of the two countries are about to conduct a joint drill on Monday and Tuesday with Japan in southern waters off the ROK resort Jeju Island.

"If they persist in doing so, all the self-defensive deterrent forces of the DPRK will keep themselves fully ready to punish all undesirable forces in the world," DPRK's National Defense Commission (NDC) said in a statement.

The DPRK side has done everything it could to mend the north-south relations and achieve the reunification of the country, by sending a series of positive signals including a crucial proposal in January, a special proposal in June and a government statement in July, said the statement issued by a spokesman for the NDC's Policy Department.

The recent military drills conducted by the strategic force units of the Korean People' s Army such as firing ultra-precision tactical rockets and artillery shells, which the United States claims to be "an unusual and special threat," only served the purpose of bolstering up its self-defense capability, it added.

The DPRK accused ROK authorities of echoing the US claim by asserting firing tactical rockets and shells is retaliation against its refusal of the DPRK' s special proposal calling for ending inter-Korean hostilities.

It also blamed the UN Security Council for losing its impartiality and misleading public opinion.

On July 14, the DPRK fired some 100 rounds of artillery shells into its eastern waters from a region just north of the military demarcation line, said ROK military officials. The DPRK had launched more than 90 short- and medium-range missiles and shells since Feb. 21.

On July 16-20, the United States and ROK conducted joint naval exercises that involved aircraft carrier USS George Washington and ROK battleships in southern and southwestern waters off the Korean Peninsula.