PYONGYANG: North Korea confirmed on Wednesday that it has canceled the armistice signed in 1953 that brought a three-year conflict with rival South Korea, and warned that the next step is an act of “merciless” military retaliation against its enemies.
“The armistice agreement is no longer valid and [North Korea] is not restrained by the North-South declaration on non-aggression,” a spokesman of North’s armed forces ministry was quoted as saying by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
“What is left to be done now is an action of justice and merciless retaliation of the army and people” of North Korea, the spokesman said.
The US and its “puppets” in Seoul were responsible for the real “warmongering,” and that “what is left to be done now is an action of justice and merciless retaliation of the army and people” of North Korea, a statement quoted by KCNA news agency argued.
The Pyongyang announced last week that it would nullify the 1953 armistice and peace pacts signed with Seoul in protest over joint South Korea-US military manoeuvres that started on Monday.
Because the Korean War was concluded with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, the two Koreas have always remained technically at war. Voiding the ceasefire theoretically opens the way to a resumption of hostilities, although observers note this is far from the first time that North Korea has announced the demise of the armistice.
DND
