N. Korea’s propaganda media resumes condemning S. Korea

North Korea’s propaganda media ended short-lived suspension of provocations Friday, and demanded the dismissal of the South Korea-U.S. Working Group, while resuming attacks on the South. The North abruptly suspended military action plans against the South on Wednesday, which led Pyongyang’s state-run and propaganda media outlets to halt in unison publishing articles criticizing Seoul, but the North’s media outlets reversed the course of their somewhat reconciliatory gestures only two days later.

The North’s propaganda machine “Echo of Tongil (Unification)” published an article entitled “Dismissal of the South Korea-U.S. Working Group is the South Korean public’s demand.” The article read “The South Korean authority has yet to regain attention until today when North-South Korean relations are in a crisis of collapse, and is stupidly playing around by relying on its Big Brother across the Pacific Ocean.” It went on to say that “(The South) has only served as (the U.S.’) puppet while failing to implement even a single item under the North-South Korea Declaration as Seoul remains shackled by the South Korea-U.S. Working Group.” The outlet called the current inter-Korean relations a “crisis of collapse,” and blasted Seoul for failing to independently take actions to lift sanctions against the Stalinist country.

“Political leaders including the ruling party in the South are demanding the dismantlement of the ‘South Korea-U.S. Working Group,’ which is a barrier to the resolution of inter-Korean issues,” the outlet said, as it introduced the argument for dismissal of the South Korea-U.S. Working Group, which is increasingly growing in the South.

However, since Pyongyang has yet to start the ante against Seoul through its internal propaganda media outlets including the Rodong Sinmun and the Korean Central TV Station, some watchers here say that Pyongyang has not shifted its direction to a hard-line policy just yet.


Gi-Jae Han record@donga.com