|
North Korea has expressed dissatisfaction with the Obama administration, saying Wednesday that the new U.S. government made a series of statements that infringe on its sovereignty. The North is apparently peeved at a recent remark by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on insecurity surrounding the succession to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
"The new administration in the U.S. is working hard to infringe on the sovereignty of [North Korea] by force of arms in collusion with the bellicose South Korean puppet forces," the official (North) Korean Central News Agency quoted a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying in what was billed as an interview Wednesday.
North Korea, "exposed to the potential threat of the U.S. and its allied forces, will take every necessary measure to protect its sovereignty," the unnamed spokesman added.
Since the inauguration of the conservative Lee Myung-bak administration in the South, the North has all but severed ties with its neighbor and in recent weeks it has increasingly stepped up rhetoric against the United States as joint military exercises between the allies approached.
The spokesman said the North will take "all necessary measures" to protect its sovereignty against the threat posed by the South Korea-U.S. drill, which ends on March 20. A South Korean government official said the fact that the remarks came not from an official statement but from an informal interview suggests that North Korea is treading with caution.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
