KCNA Warns of Possible Nuclear War on Korean Peninsula

The large-scale joint military exercises conducted by the United States and South Korea have made the situation on the Korean Peninsula more tense and a nuclear war may break out at any moment, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)said on Friday in a commentary.

Timed to coincide with the US military attack on Iraq, which began on Thursday, the military exercises prove that the United States is implementing its strategy of fighting two regional wars at the same time as part of its efforts to dominate the world, said KCNA, the official news agency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

With use of massive numbers of troops and modern military equipment, and the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson in a South Korean port, the March 4-April 2 Foal Eagle and the March 19-26 RSOI joint exercises by the United States and South Korea are the largest yet, and are intended to threaten and stifle the DPRK by force, the commentary said.

While staging exercises by air, sea and land, the United States focuses its aerial strategy by mobilizing fighter-bombers and stealth fighters around the Korean Peninsula. This means that it is going to "mount a preemptive attack on nuclear facilities in the DPRK and take it as an opportunity of escalating the war."

As the US strategy of mobilizing international pressure failed to work on the DPRK, it is turning to military means, the commentary pointed out.

The United States has turned down the DPRK's proposal for a non-aggression treaty and staged the largest ever military exercises directed against the DPRK. The exercises drive the military situation on the Korean Peninsula to the "brink of a nuclear war", it said.

The DPRK will increase its self-defense capacity and eliminateany aggressors at a single stroke, the KCNA warned.



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China Strongly Calls for Immediate Stop of Military Actions Against Iraq

China strongly calls for immediate stop of military actions against Iraq, return to track of political solution to Iraq issue, Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said at the press conference Thursday.

The military actions against Iraq, carried out despite opposition from most governments and peoples across the world and bypassing the United Nations Security Council, violated the United Nations Charter and the basic norms of international law, he stressed.

China is very concerned about, and keeps a close watch on, this situation and Chinese government's position on Iraq issue accords with world people's strong aspiration for peace, according to the spokesman.

Kong Quan also said China will continue to call for world peace and will take actions with other countries to make the countries concerned stop their military actions in Iraq.



China's concern lies in three aspects

Firstly, China is concerned about the military actions that relevant countries have launched against Iraq, disregarding the strong hope and appeal of most countries and their people for peace and bypassing the United Nations Security Council, Kong said at the regular press conference.

China is also concerned about the lives and property of the Iraqi people and the profound influence the military actions may bring to regional and global peace.

The spokesman said in resolving the Iraq issue, China keeps in mind that the unity and authority of the UN Security Council should be maintained and the seriousness of the Council's Resolution 1441 and other previous resolutions upheld.

Among the 190-plus members of the United Nations, the overwhelming majority stand for a political solution of the Iraq issue, and so do most members of the Security Council.

China evacuated all its nationals, including diplomats and journalists, from Iraq and closed its embassy in Bagdad two days ago.

Kong said that the safety of foreign citizens and embassies in China "will be ensured", as the Chinese government attaches great importance to the safety of foreign citizens, embassies and organizations in China.

On Japan's support of the military actions against Iraq, Kong said China hopes Japan would be "very prudent" in participating inany military actions overseas.

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