All U.S. Troops Home Now!
Hands Off Korea!
Vindication of DPRK at UN Security Council
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Refutes G8 Communiqué
Statement by Ambassador Sin Son Ho, Permanent Representative of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the UN


Cancel War Games

Hands Off Korea!

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and all of Korea are a main target of U.S. war preparations. These include moving heavy weaponry into the truce village of Panmunjom, conducting war games in the area with air craft carriers and using the sinking of the south Korean Cheonan warship to further increase tensions and justify potential aggression against the DPRK. The war games follow those in March, also conducted very close to the DPRK and when the Cheonan was sunk. Far from ending such provocative actions, the U.S. is now planning yet more war games. These war games have been denounced by both the DPRK and China and both have called for them to be canceled as they serve only to increase the possibility that war could be triggered in Korea.

The U.S. insists on having the war games as an expression of what it considers its military superiority. They have though, at present, as a result of demands from China, agreed to move them further south, away from the territorial waters of the DPRK and China. However, they have not canceled them and may yet hold part of the war games in the Yellow Sea, near both countries. As well, the U.S. has canceled plans to turn control of the south Korean military over to the south Koreans, instead keeping the U.S. military in control.

Voice of Revolution calls on the U.S. government to cancel the war games and bring All U.S. Troops Home Now! In conducting war games thousands of miles from home and keeping warships and weaponry, including possibly nuclear weapons in the area, the U.S. is committing crimes against the peace.

Korea is one nation and every effort should be made to support Korean reunification. This is the path to peace, a path that requires removal of U.S. troops and interference so that the people of Korea are free to solve the problem of reunification through their own efforts. It is vital to stand with the Korean people in demanding Hands Off Korea! U.S. Troops Out Now!

U.S. war moves are part of their efforts to crush the DPRK and claim all of the Korean peninsula as its military base. The U.S. has long sought revenge against the Korean’s for defeating the U.S. during the Korean War, despite the U.S. use of massive bombing raids, chemical weapons, civilian massacres and ruthless aggression against the Korean people. The memory of this defeat for the U.S. and victory for the Koreans is marked July 25. This is precisely when the war games are now planned. We say cancel the war games! The U.S. must instead sit down and negotiate a peace treaty — something they have refused to do since the ending of the war in 1953 with an armistice agreement. Now, instead of negotiations, as called for by the DPRK, south Koreans, China and others, the U.S. is gearing up for more war. They are attempting to stir up antagonisms by blaming the DPRK for the sinking of the Cheonan. This effort has been shown to be false, yet the U.S. persists in the lies so as to have a pretext for aggression, much as they did for Iraq, for Vietnam and for the start of the Korean War.

These U.S. preparations to attack the DPRK are part of its efforts to militarily surround China and dominate the entire region. The U.S. is acting to prepare conditions in alliance with south Korea and Japan to cause massive destruction on the Korean Peninsula similar to the U.S. war of aggression in 1950-53, impose regime change in the DPRK and occupy the peninsula right up to the Chinese border. They want to make emphatically clear to China that the U.S., in concert with occupied Japan, is determined to control East Asia. Creating a tense war atmosphere is also aimed at defeating Korean efforts for reunification and defeating mass movements in both south Korea and Japan demanding that the U.S. get out now.

China will not go back to being the subject nation of any imperialist power. For Korea, the DPRK stands as an unshakeable force against U.S. imperialism and a proud symbol of the strength and vitality of the Korean people. They have rightly made clear that any effort to once again unleash war on the Korean peninsula will mean complete victory and reunification for Korea. Their aim, as their restraint in the face of repeated provocations shows, is peaceful reunification and to block war in the region.

What is needed now is every effort to block an aggressive U.S. war, first and foremost by demanding that the U.S. Bring All Troops Home Now! and by standing shoulder to shoulder with the Korean people in supporting reunification and demanding, Sign the Peace Treaty Now!

Hands Off Korea!

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Vindication of DPRK at UN Security Council

The U.S. and south Korea failed in their recent attempts to isolate the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) at the UN Security Council, using the pretext of the sinking of the Cheonan, a south Korean warship (see Statement by DPRK's UN Ambassador Sin Son Ho below and VOR June 14 update for more on sinking of the Cheonan). On July 9, the UN Security Council issued a presidential statement condemning the sinking, but did not attribute blame to any party.

“The Security Council condemns the attack which led to the sinking of the Cheonan,” the 15-member body said in a statement read out by Ambassador U. Joy Ogwu of Nigeria, which holds the Council’s rotating presidency for this month. It added that such an incident “endangers peace and security in the region and beyond.” The Council expressed its deep concern over the findings of the international report, which was released by south Korea and promoted widely by the U.S. While the report blamed the DPRK for the incident, the UNSC statement noted that the DPRK has “stated that it had nothing to do with the incident.” It welcomed the “restraint” showed by the ROK and stressed the importance of maintaining peace on the Korean Peninsula as well as in all of North-East Asia.

The Council encouraged “the settlement of outstanding issues on the Korean peninsula by peaceful means to resume direct dialogue and negotiation through appropriate channels as early as possible, with a view to avoiding conflicts and averting escalation.” It urged the DPRK to fulfill its commitments under the now-suspended Six-Party Talks, which sought to resolve the crisis over the country’s nuclear program.

The DPRK in a statement issued on July 10 said it was willing in principle to return to nuclear disarmament talks. Repeating its earlier stance, the DPRK said it would make “consistent efforts for the conclusion of a peace treaty and denuclearization through the six-party talks conducted on an equal footing.” Referring to the declaration from the UN Security council it said the statement exposes the “foolish calculation” of the U.S. and south Korea in bringing the issue to the UN. The DPRK ambassador to the UN, Sin Son Ho called the statement a “great diplomatic victory.” A foreign ministry spokesman noted that the UN “hastily tabled and handled the case before the truth of the case has been probed” and said the issue should have been handled between the two Koreas. The DPRK “remains unchanged in its stand to probe the truth about the case to the last” and calling the allegations against it a “conspiratorial farce.” From the beginning, south Korea has denied the DPRK’s Military Defense Commission access to the evidence and the site of the sinking.

Despite the UN Security Council presidential statement pointedly not attributing the sinking to any party, both the U.S. and south Korea still sought to turn the statement into a vilification of the DPRK to justify their warmongering and other acts to increase, not decrease, tension on the Korean Peninsula. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who will visit south Korea in July, claimed the UN had sent a warning to the DPRK “that such irresponsible and provocative behavior is a threat to peace and security in the region and will not be tolerated.” The White House issued a similar statement, claiming the UN Security Council’s presidential statement “increases North Korea’s international isolation... as the international community continues to make clear the cost that comes with North Korea’s provocative behavior.” South Korea’s foreign ministry said the international community “condemned North Korea’s attack on the Cheonan with a united voice and emphasized the importance of preventing additional provocations.” News agencies report that the south Korean and U.S. navies are still considering carrying out joint war games in the Yellow Sea, near north Korea and China. South Korea has also announced reprisals including a partial trade cut-off.

South Korean daily Chosun Ilbo reports that prior to the statement from the Security Council, China had asked the south Korean government through a diplomatic channel to refrain from the joint exercise with the U.S., saying that it “might destabilize the Korean Peninsula.”

The Chinese newspaper Global Times in a July 7 editorial said south Korea had “delusions” of putting pressure on China through the exercise. “The U.S. and South Korea are using the UN as an excuse to pressure China over its stance on the sinking,” the daily quoted a Chinese academic as saying. In an editorial July 6, the same paper said the drill is a clear challenge to China’s security. “Considering the growing economic, diplomatic, political and cultural ties the U.S. has with China, the price the U.S. has to pay for its irresponsible decision will be higher than it can envision now. If the U.S. does not pay for this ‘adventure’ now, it will pay in the future,” it added.

A south Korean government official said, “Just as China staged a live fire exercise in the East China Sea on June 30, the two allies Korea and the U.S. are staging a drill in our territorial waters. It’s a matter of sovereignty that nobody can interfere with. We can’t cancel the plan just because China is protesting.”

Following the release of the Security Council’s statement, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said, “We hope the involved parties continue to maintain calm and restraint, and take this opportunity to turn the page on the Cheonan incident as soon as possible” He added, “We call for an early resumption of the six-party talks and joint efforts to maintain peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.”

Meanwhile, the DPRK in its own statement aimed to “take the steam” out of the U.S.-South Korea joint naval exercise and reprisals from south Korea including a planned resumption of psychological warfare against the DPRK. If hostile forces persist in “demonstrations of forces and sanctions,” they would not escape “strong physical retaliation” or evade responsibility for escalating the conflict, a foreign ministry spokesman said on official media. The DPRK warned “hostile forces” against carrying out “such provocations as a demonstration of forces and sanctions” in contravention to the UN statement. “They will neither be able to escape the DPRK’s strong physical retaliation nor will they be able to evade the responsibility for the resultant escalation of the conflict,” it said.

(UN News Center, Agence France Presse, Chosun Ilbo, Korean Central News Agency)

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Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Refutes G8 Communiqué

A spokesman for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) Foreign Ministry gave the following answer to the question raised by Korean Central News Agency on June 29 as regards the G8 summit’s final declaration criticizing the DPRK over the Cheonan case:

We vehemently and totally refute the declaration adopted at the G8 summit held in Canada on June 25 and 26 in which its participants brought up the DPRK, though indirectly, referring to south Korea’s “results of the investigation” into the Cheonan case.

The “results of the investigation” are arousing ever more heated arguments not only in the international community but inside south Korea.

They are beset with so many doubts and contradictions that a committee was set up in the National Assembly of south Korea to investigate the case but it has not yet concluded its work.

Moreover, the south Korean side persistently turns away from the persistent demand of the DPRK to receive the inspection group of her National Defense Commission.

Heads of state of the G8, however, purposely handled the case in a hasty manner, which only proves that they had a sinister political purpose.

The G8 gave way to the G20 and is heading for the graveyard of history as it has been reduced to an evil group blindly conniving with and defending its allies, far from taking principle and truth as a standard.

(Korean Central News Agency)

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Statement by Ambassador Sin Son Ho, Permanent Representative of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the UN

On June 15, His Excellency Sin Son Ho, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) Ambassador to the United Nations gave a press conference at the UN to reiterate the spurious nature of U.S. and south Korean claims attributing the sinking of the Cheonan to the DPRK so as to cause a further worsening of inter-Korean relations. The ambassador also reiterated the necessity for the DPRK to be able to perform its own investigation of the evidence recovered from the site of the sinking. South Korea and the U.S. have refused to allow the DPRK to expect the area or the evidence utlized to make their claims concerning the sinking. VOR is posting below the full statement of the ambassador.

* * *

Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for coming to today’s press conference regarding the sinking of south Korean warship Cheonan that the south Korean side claimed was torpedoed by the military of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Ladies and gentlemen,

For your reference, I was invited by the Security Council yesterday to attend an informal meeting. At the request of the Security Council I briefed the Council members on our position with regard to the sinking of the south Korean warship Cheonan that occurred on March 26, 2010. I will refrain from telling you all the details since the meeting of yesterday was informal.

At today’s press conference I would like to further clarify the position of the DPRK with regard to the sinking of Cheonan.

As is already well known, on May 20, 2010, the south Korean authorities released what is called the “investigation results” that forcibly linked the case with the DPRK.

Having categorically denied and totally rejected the unilateral “investigation result,” the DPRK stated that it has nothing to do with the sinking of the Cheonan and formally proposed to south Korea that the DPRK will dispatch its inspection group from the National Defense Commission to the site of the incident in order to verify the “investigation result” in an objective and scientific way.

However, the south Korean side has refused to accept our reasonable proposal but instead brought the case to the Security Council, presenting its unilateral and fabricated “investigation results.”

The “Investigation” Is Not Scientific and Objective

The “investigation results” are a complete fabrication from A to Z and raised doubt and accusations domestically and externally since the very moment of its release. As days go by, new information and objective reality have been found sufficient to prove that this case is fabricated, to serve the political purposes of the south Korean authorities.

The south Korean authorities released the “investigation result” on May 20, 2010 coinciding with the start of local elections in south Korea and the beginning of the U.S. Secretary of State’s visit to Japan. The statement of the south Korean president on May 24 also coincided with the start of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue between China and the U.S. It is clear that all these announcements were prescheduled according to the timetable of the above political events.

The U.S. and south Korea claim that the “Joint Investigation Group” (JIG) included foreign experts and the investigation was “scientific and objective.”

The composition of the “JIG” itself does not guarantee that the investigation is scientific and objective. All the activities of the “JIG” have been disclosed with much skepticism. Nothing is known about:

• what procedure and rules were used for selection of the “JIG” members

• whether “JIG” members represent their respective governments or whether they are acting in an independent capacity

• whether the “JIG” members can exercise substantial authority in the investigation or they just lent their names or titles

• what procedure the “JIG” members agreed on for determining the “investigation results,” etc.

The United Kingdom has so far kept silent on an official request for clarification on UK experts who participated in the “JIG.” Canada officially announced that it would send its experts to south Korea on May 16, 2010, four days before the release of the “investigation result” by south Korea and nothing is known about when they arrived in south Korea and whether they really participated in the joint investigation. Sweden confirmed that Swedish experts of the “JIG” provided technical advice only and that they were not involved in making any conclusions on who might be responsible for the incident.

“Material Evidence”

South Korea presented the “material evidence” that served to link the warship sinking with the north and whatever was not for that purpose was covered up in the name of “military secrets.”

Even the “material evidence” presented by them raised so many doubts that the riddle and mystery of this incident have widely spread around the world, including south Korea and the U.S.

The south Korean authorities presented the rear part of a torpedo 1.5 meters (about 5 feet) long as a “material evidence” for the sinking by a north Korean torpedo.

To give credibility to this material, the south Korean military presented pictures showing a civilian fishing boat raising in its fishing net the propulsion portion of the torpedo and its transportation by helicopter after packaging. If we follow their explanation, the cameramen would have been informed from the very beginning that the propulsion part of the torpedo would be found at that place.

Since the sinking, a number of U.S. and south Korean warships equipped with the state-of-the-art means of detection conducted an intensive search for any material evidence for over 50 days at the site of the sinking with no success. Yet a fishing boat appeared all of sudden and claimed that it had collected a remnant of a torpedo 1.5 meters long by fishing net just five days before the release of the “investigation result.” This is indeed as funny story, like the fiction in Aesop’s Fables.

It is also quite certain that many have doubts about how the screw, motor and other remnants of parts of the torpedo, which split the warship with a high explosion, could remain without any deformation or bending.

What is ridiculous is the marking in Korean script which reads “No.1” found inside the end of the propulsion portion found. The north and south of Korea are using the same language. If somebody attacks the other in a secret way, he or she will not leave any trace. This is the common understanding and sense of knowledge. How could “No. 1” hand-written in blue color by a marker remain as vivid as if it was written today? It is the view of specialists that the writing in marker could not remain because of high heat generated from the explosion of the torpedo.

On the day of the sinking, the U.S.-south Korea joint military exercises “Foal Eagle” were in full swing with many U.S. and south Korean warships of different types engaged in anti-submarine, anti-air, marine interdiction operations and with many underwater and air reconnaissance means mobilized in the waters of the sinking.

Amid these conditions, it is doubtful that a DPRK small-sized submarine attacked the corvette Cheonan, which has anti-submarine capacity, and it is also inconceivable that U.S. and south Korean warships equipped with state-of-the-art detective devices failed to detect the submarine.

There are many other such doubts and suspicious material. The gas turbine is one of them. The south Korean authorities intentionally abandoned their efforts to find the gas turbine saying that it was lost in the explosion of the torpedo even though they knew the location of the gas turbine. Why? Because if found, one can easily discover the cause of the sinking with the state of the gas turbine.

Later when the location of the gas turbine was made known by other people, the south Korean authorities pulled it up just one day before the release of the “investigation results” and therefore the detailed state of the gas turbine is not reflected in the “investigation results.”

Now the world pays special attention to the south Korean military who knows better than anyone else what is the real cause of the sinking of the Cheonan. The “JIG” members were not allowed to use cell phones, were restricted in their movement and forced to take a vow of “secrecy.” A civilian “JIG” member was expelled from the group and later prosecuted for the simple reason that he did not agree to the assertion of the Ministry of Defense that the sinking had been caused by a “north Korean torpedo.”

The survivors of the sinking were all sent to the military hospital under the pretext of so-called psychological stress and were ordered to keep silent about the sinking. Their cell phones were confiscated and they were not permitted to meet outsiders. There is also doubt about why the south Korean military did not release the navigation, communication and visual records from the time of the incident. This is their dilemma.

Political Purposes

As is well known, the attribution of the responsibility for the sinking of Cheonan to my country, the DPRK, represents a farce concocted by the U.S. and south Korea in pursuit of their political purposes. Their political concoction can be explained by the recent change in the situation on the Korean peninsula and its surroundings.

It is the U.S. that mostly benefited from the incident of the sinking of Cheonan.

Soon after the incident, the U.S. hyped the “threat from north Korea” to make it sound real, finally making the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, which had been keen to drive the U.S. forces out of Okinawa, to yield to it. Subsequently Prime Minister Hatoyama of Japan could not but resign. The U.S. thus killed two birds with one stone. Hatoyama later confessed that the incident of the sinking of Cheonan was the decisive factor compelling him to accept the U.S. demand to prevent the moving of the U.S. military base.

The U.S. is using the incident for purposes of reaccelerating the formation of the tripartite alliance, keeping hold on Japan and south Korea as its servants. The U.S. seeks justifications for striking a massive arms deal with south Korea and to dispatch U.S. aircraft carriers to the West Sea of Korea which is a delicate area in terms of security of the Korean peninsula and China. The U.S. intention to delay the transfer of the “Wartime Operational Command” to south Korea set for 2012 is more undisguised.

Such an incident like the sinking of Cheonan was necessary for the U.S. to produce its strong image before the November Congressional mid-term elections and to justify its policy of “strategic patience” designed to degrade the environment for international investment in my country and steadily suffocate its economy.

What Is South Korea’s Purpose?

First, the south Korean authorities sought to evade responsibility for the sinking. If the sinking was caused by self-grounding or structural failure from metal fatigue, it is evident that the chief commander of the army and high ranking military officers should bear the full responsibility and be punished. That is why they had no option but fabrication to attribute the attack to north Korea in order for them to survive.

The south Korean authorities made public the “investigation results” on May 20, 2010, the date set for the beginning of local elections. By so doing, they calculated the conservative forces would be united throughout the local election with a fear that “national security” was at risk due to the danger of an attack from the north. But the so called “north wave” of the south Korean authorities brought about adverse effects with the full defeat of the ruling party in the local elections.

Second, the insistence of the south Korean authorities that the sinking was caused by a north Korean torpedo attack was designed to evade responsibility for the deterioration of inter-Korean relations by justifying their anachronistic hard-line policy toward the north and in a foolish attempt to drive a wedge between China and my country, which have excellent relations.

I can say that the conclusive evidence presented by south Korea are nothing more than “conclusive doubts” and the “investigation results” of the “JIG” is a mosaic scenario, unscientific, biased and unilateral, not objective.

That is why, on May 20, 2010, the DPRK straight away rejected the unilateral “investigation results” of south Korea and proposed to dispatch its inspection group from the National Defense Commission in order to verify the “investigation results” in an objective and scientific way.

Only when all doubts are cleared and all truths are found, can the case of the sinking of the Cheonan be resolved. If the south Korean authorities have nothing to hide there is no reason for them not to accept our inspection group for the verification of their “investigation results.”

As I told you earlier I was invited by the Security Council yesterday to explain the position of the DPRK at an informal meeting. Some countries during that meeting mentioned that the case of the Cheonan may be discussed within the “Military Armistice Commission.” But the U.S. paralyzed the function of the “Military Armistice Commission” in March 1991 by unilaterally replacing the chief delegate of the “UN Command” side to the Commission with a “general” of south Korea, who is not a signatory to the Korea Armistice Agreement.

If the UN Security Council formally debates this case with only the unilateral “investigation results” of the south but without verification by the DPRK, the victim, it will mean that the Security Council takes the side of one party in the dispute, excluding the other. It is also contrary to the principles of respect of sovereignty and equality as enshrined in the UN Charter.

Today, a touch-and-go situation that a war may break out at anytime has been created on the Korean peninsula due to the reckless military manoeuvres of south Korea for “retaliation and punishment” after the fabrication of the “investigation results.”

The Security Council has already been besmirched in February 2003 due to the then U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell’s lies about Iraq. If the Security Council is again deceived by another lie and tackles this case unfairly, thus failing to prevent any conflict on the Korean peninsula, the U.S. and the Security Council shall bear the full responsibility for the subsequent consequences.

Our people and army will smash our aggressors with merciless counteraction if they dare to provoke us despite of our repeated demand and warnings, and build the most thriving reunified nation on the Korean peninsula.

I hope you pay due attention to the developing situation of the Korean peninsula and further raise your voices of justice to the world with a view to preventing a war and maintaining peace and security. Thank you.

tHREATENS China and DPRK

War President Obama’s Belligerent Actions and Comments

War President Obama was decidedly the most undiplomatic in his G20 concluding press conference, in particular his strident words against China. Obama’s words punctuated four actions of the U.S. military on the Korean Peninsula just prior to and during the summit, which China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) consider to be threatening and matters of serious concern:

1) The U.S. staged a Tonkin Gulf type false-flag incident involving the sinking of a Republic of Korea warship during joint U.S.-South Korean war games. After several weeks of silence, the U.S. slowly began to orchestrate an international slander attack against the DPRK accusing it of sinking the warship. In response to the U.S. campaign and mass media hysteria in the south, the DPRK asked the Republic of Korea (RoK) to calm down and have a joint investigation of the incident without the meddling of the U.S., which seems bent on provoking war.

2) Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang expressed serious concern June 22 over reports that a U.S. aircraft carrier might join a military exercise with the RoK in the Yellow Sea between the Korean Peninsula and the Chinese coast to intimidate the DPRK and heighten tensions. Qin Gang said, “Under current situations, relevant parties should exercise restraint and refrain from doing things that may escalate tensions and harm the interests of the countries in the region.”

3) During the G20 Summit, the U.S. issued a surprising announcement that the RoK’s long-planned takeover from the U.S. military of wartime operational command of RoK troops has been pushed back by three years and seven months to December 1, 2015. This reverses another one of the “sunshine” policies of the previous two RoK administrations, which were building towards Korean reunification through the Korean people’s own efforts independently of the U.S. occupation forces and which would result in the removal of U.S. military bases and troops from the peninsula.

4) In another provocative move, the U.S. military has once again broken the truce agreement on the Korean Peninsula and made the situation even more tense by moving heavy weaponry into the truce village of Panmunjom. In a statement June 28, the DPRK’s Panmunjom Mission of the Korean People’s Army urged the U.S. to withdraw the heavy weapons it has deployed in the south side of the area around the Panmunjom Conference Hall. Those heavy weapons were brought in by the U.S. forces on Saturday during the G20 Summit. The introduction of heavy weapons to the area where armed forces of both sides stand in acute confrontation is “a premeditated provocation aimed to spark off a serious military conflict,” the DPRK mission said.

According to the Armistice Agreement that ended the 1950-1953 Korean War, the forces of both sides in the area around the Panmunjom Conference Hall can only bring small arms such as pistols and rifles into the area.

Obama’s words at his G20 concluding press conference added to the reckless militarist stance of the U.S. imperialists. He raised objections to the G20 communique accusing China of obstructing U.S. intentions to use the summit to beat the war drums against the DPRK. Obama’s ratcheting up of the war pressure on China and the DPRK comes in the midst of very real hegemonic U.S. goals in East Asia, which can by summarized as follows:

1) Create a tense war atmosphere to defeat the growing anti-war movement in Japan to oust U.S. military bases first from Okinawa and eventually from the entire country.

2) Generate an atmosphere in south Korea where the masses opposed to U.S. demands for a free trade agreement with the RoK come under reactionary pressure that the U.S. military is a defender of Korea and not a belligerent and rapacious occupier.

3) Prepare conditions in alliance with South Korea and Japan to attack the DPRK, cause massive destruction on the Korean Peninsula similar to the U.S. war of aggression in 1950-53, impose regime change in the DPRK and occupy the peninsula right up to the Chinese border.

4) Emphatically make it clear to China that the U.S., in concert with occupied Japan, is determined to control East Asia.

Obama’s words and actions are to show China that no matter how economically powerful it may become, the U.S. military will remain superior and, along with its main ally, U.S.-occupied Japan, will exercise hegemony over East Asia.

To punctuate his militarist actions Obama said at his G20 press conference, with regard to preparing for all-out war with the DPRK, that the U.S.-led investigation of the warship sinking is over, the conclusion is final and the DPRK was responsible. This must be accepted by the world including China, he insisted.

Obama said:

“North Korea engaged in belligerent behaviour that is unacceptable to the international community. And the United States participated in the investigation that was conducted around the Cheonan. Our experts concluded that North Korea had carried out that attack.”

“It is absolutely critical that the international community rally behind him [RoK President Lee], and send a clear message to North Korea that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable and that the international community will continue to step up pressure until it makes a decision to follow a path that is consistent with international norms.”

“My expectation is that those who were here at the G20, as they look at the evidence, will come to that same conclusion. I think it is a bad habit that we need to break to try to shy away from ugly facts with respect to North Korea’s behaviour in the interests of — or under the illusion that that will somehow help to maintain the peace.”

“I had the conversation with [Chinese] President Hu. I was very blunt. This is not an issue where you’ve got two parties [DPRK and RoK] of moral equivalence who are having an argument. This is a situation in which you have a belligerent nation that engaged in provocative and deadly acts against the other. And I think it is very important that we are clear about that.”

“Now, I am sympathetic to the fact that North Korea is on China’s border. They have a security interest in not seeing complete chaos on the Korean Peninsula or a collapse that could end up having a significant impact on them.”

“When they [China] adopt a posture of restraint, I understand their thinking. But I think there’s a difference between restraint and willful blindness to consistent problems. And my hope is that President Hu will recognize as well that this is an example of Pyongyang going over the line in ways that just have to be spoken about seriously — because otherwise we’re not going to be able to have serious negotiations with the North Koreans.”

Obama publicly accused China of “willful blindness,” something that is decidedly not diplomatic. This accusation has already gone around the world. These are not the words of enlightened statecraft but chauvinist belittling of an ancient civilization, as if China were still a colony and had not stood up. Obama continued in this undiplomatic vein implying China is dishonest. He said,

“China and the United States share a common interest. We’d like to see a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. We’d like to see a North Korea that is a responsible member of the world community — which would be good for the people of North Korea. But that’s only going to happen if we’re honest about what’s taking place right now and if we’re honest about our basic expectations of how nations behave in an international order.”

Obama continued to browbeat China on other issues including currency revaluation and by exalting the U.S./Japan military alliance. Obama places China in the category of an up and coming foe but makes clear that U.S. imperialism does not intend to allow China and the other peoples of East Asia the right to be.

Obama said, “A strong U.S.-Japan alliance is something that can continue to be a cornerstone of a peaceful and prosperous Asia which will benefit all people . We [U.S.] are going to be a presence in the Pacific because we are a Pacific nation as well as an Atlantic nation.”

Scores of other nations are Pacific nations. And being a Pacific nation does not give the U.S., which is nowhere near East Asia, the right to militarily occupy East Asian nations; threaten them with war and annihilation if they do not submit and come within the U.S.-led imperialist system of states; browbeat them into free trade agreements; tell them how to organize their economic, political, social and cultural affairs; dictate to them values that do not emerge from their own reality and ancient thought material, and otherwise interfere with their right to be.

In this regard, on June 29 China rejected Obama’s accusation of “willfull blindness” towards the DPRK and the sinking of the south Korean vessel Cheonan, saying this is a time when calm and restraint are needed, Xinhua reported.

“China’s stance and efforts are fair and irreproachable. We will not do things like pouring oil on the fire,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang at a regular news briefing.

“China borders on the Korean Peninsula, and we have our own feeling on the issue, different from that of the countries tens of thousands miles away. We have more direct and intense concerns,” said Qin. China has repeatedly urged all sides to maintain calm and restraint so to avoid an escalation of the situation.

“On the Cheonan issue, we will not be partial to any party, but make objective judgments in line with the facts,” said Qin, adding that a turning point needed to be reached urgently, not intensification or confrontation. He called on all sides to deal with the Cheonan incident through dialogue and consultations.

As concerns the nuclear issue, Qin said in order for there to be long-term development and stability on the Korean Peninsula, denuclearization must first be realized. “We are willing to make joint efforts with parties concerned to realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through pushing forward the Six-Party talks,” he said.

U.S. Imperialism, Get Out of East Asia!

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