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By Jia Cheng North Korea announced on Monday that it would no longer deal with South Korea by launching a nationwide offensive and cutting military communication links. "The army and people of North Korea will never deal with traitor Lee Myung-bak and his clan," AFP quoted the Korean Central News Agency as saying. According to a statement issued by North Korea's National Defense Commission on Monday, it has taken steps to "cut off the North-South military communication in the area along the east coast" and "close the communication liaison office in the Mt. Kumgang area," the Xinhua News Agency reported. Apart from cutting military communications line, Pyongyang announced that it would launch an offensive to end the "Lee group" moves to escalate the confrontation with Seoul. Yang Bojiang, an expert on Northeast Asia at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times that North Korea is piling on the pressure ahead of South Korea's political season as the country prepares for next year's general and presidential races. Lee has taken a hardened stance toward the North in a bid to secure his conservative base. North Korea's move seeks to exploit South Korea's domestic politics, in a bid to divide the government over its stance toward the North but it was unlikely to succeed, Yang added. The statement came just days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il returned from a week-long visit to China, seeking lessons from his ally's economic development. Yang said cutting military communications line was a diplomatic offensive from Pyongyang, rather than military confrontation. Pyongyang accused Seoul of piling up false accusations against the North, and refusing to have bilateral talks. It also announced it was ready to strike at any time in revenge for Seoul's anti-North Korea psychological warfare, Xinhua reported. Last year, about 70 percent people in South Korea supported a tough stance against the North following two deadly attacks, but many of them have changed their stance in a bid to avoid war, Yang said. on Monday, South Korea's defense ministry launched an investigation into soldiers and officials who posted pro-North messages online, according to the Chosun Ilbo. The report said about 70 South Korean army, navy and air force officers had been active on a pro-North website. Lü Chao, director at the Center of South Korea Studies of the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that public displays of support for North Korea are frequent in South Korea, since many still hope for reconciliation. Agencies contributed to this story |
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