DPRK accuses US of plotting new war
PYONGYANG — The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has accused the United States of plotting to provoke another Korean War by convening a foreign ministers’ meeting in Vancouver, Canada.
“The United States, in collusion with Canada, created the scene of a war simulation by summoning the foreign ministers of the countries participated in the Korean War to a meeting,” said a spokesman of the Institute for American Studies of the DPRK Foreign Ministry in a statement on Thursday, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
About 20 countries, mostly those which joined the US in its war against the DPRK in the 1950s, participated in the meeting on Jan 15-16. Japan was also involved.
The spokesman said US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson “openly trumpeted” at the meeting that the US and its allies would intensify their pressure campaign against the DPRK by limiting exports of oil and industrial products, strengthening naval control and expelling DPRK workers abroad until it stops its nuclear program.
“The meeting speaks to the fact that the US is willing to spark a new war in the Korean Peninsula at any cost although it talks about dialogue,” he said.
The spokesman said while the ongoing inter-Korean peace efforts have won broad support at home and abroad, countries which attended the unlawful and ambiguous meeting should consider the potential consequences of further sanctions.
Pyongyang had earlier warned that Washington was preparing to ignite another crisis during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics by deploying another nuclear carrier, the USS Stennis, in the West Pacific. US President Donald Trump has pledged to solve the nuclear issue on the peninsula and has alternated between applying “maximum pressure” on Pyongyang and threatening military actions.
The DPRK and the Republic of Korea have agreed to cooperate during the Olympics and take measures to ease regional tensions since the beginning of the new year.
IOC meeting
Meanwhile, DPRK Olympic officials have arrived in Switzerland ahead of weekend talks at the International Olympic Committee to finalize Pyongyang’s participation in the Winter Games.
Guk Kim-il, president of the DPRK Olympic committee, arrived at Geneva’s Cointrin airport on a flight from Beijing, but made no comments to reporters.
DPRK IOC member Chang Ung met the delegation. Asked whether he expected Pyongyang and Seoul to settle outstanding issues at Saturday’s talks, he appeared optimistic.
“Everything’s fine,” he said.
The IOC has said that Saturday’s meeting would take a series of “essential decisions” on the DPRK’s participation at the Games that open in Pyeongchang on Feb 9.
These would include the number and names of athletes from the DPRK as well as questions of protocol, including flags, ceremonies and uniform.