Pyongyang, March 2 (KCNA) -- Recently the South Korean authorities, backed by the U.S., have left no stone unturned to "maintain" the illegal "Northern Limit Line," while resorting to unabated military provocations at the west sea.
In this regard the spokesman for the navy command of the Korean People's Army issued a statement today.
He said:
Of late the South Korean authorities, supported by the U.S., are getting frantic in their ill-boding moves to spark another shocking incident at the west sea, going against the trend towards detente and peace.
Far from drawing a due lesson from the west sea incident which took place last year, they continue to deploy more 155 mm self-propelled howitzers and other combat equipment of the latest type and armed forces on five islands at the west sea. They dispatched high-ranking military officers there one after another to have operation confabs almost every day to "maintain" what they call "Northern Limit Line" and provoke another war under that pretext.
Some time ago, they let warships of the navy of "ROK army" frequently violate the MDL at the west sea as part of their provocations in the sea in a bid to "maintain" the illegal "Northern Limit Line" at any cost.
They went the length of interpreting the basic agreement between the north and south and the north-south non-aggression agreement, products of our sincere efforts to implement the three principles of national reunification, in favor of their own interests and using the agreements for justifying the "Northern Limit Line."
As for the boundary and zone laid down in those agreements, they mean the extension of the Military Demarcation Line at the sea fixed under the Korean Armistice Agreement which was already agreed upon by the warring sides from the ground MDL and the boundary line between Hwanghae and Kyonggi provinces stipulated by the AA, not the "Northern Limit Line" fixed unilaterally by one of the warring sides without the consent from the other.
The South Korean authorities claim that the "point" which was fixed for meeting of the north and south at the sea when many relief goods were delivered to the South Korean side for the flood victims in 1984 as the result of a humanitarian measure as well as our stand that represented warm love for the compatriots is evidence of our recognition of the "Northern Limit Line."
They are nowadays distorting facts, saying that at a meeting of the military armistice commission in 1963 we recognized what they call "Northern Limit Line" and that our side was not opposed to the "Northern Limit Line" which was used as a base line when the west sea boundary in the flight information zone was fixed in 1997.
When there is no response to their allegations, they are using sea routes and movements of our navy warships and civil ships at the west sea for justifying the "Northern Limit Line," and stole a 1959 version of a publication whose prescription expired to prove the "validity" of the "Northern Limit Line."
They are now using even a "principle" and "principle of prescription" for maintenance of the "Northern Limit Line" only to be ridiculed by the world people. The principle means that the acquisition of rights is recognized by such complex factors as agreement with a country concerned, its consent and connivance, which does not work even in the western world where a jungle law prevails. This reminds one of a saying a drowning man will catch at a straw.
With whom did they agree and from whom did they get consent to fix the "line" and at whose connivance did they have the right recognized?
The "principle of prescription" is a brigandish logic as it stipulates that one side's violation of sovereignty over a territory, a clear breach of the international law, is not punishable if the other side fails to protest it and connives at it for a long time. Moreover, the "principle" asserts that there should be tranquility without inviting protest.
Judging from this, the South Korean authorities can neither turn their face away from the strong demands of the fellow countrymen for the nullification of the "Northern Limit Line" nor can they describe the controversial waters of the west sea of Korea as "calm waters."
The criterion that should be applied in settling the sensitive and important issue is a fair legal ground and desire and demand of the army and people.
The "Northern Limit Line" advertised by the South Korean authorities is the ghost line unilaterally fixed by the side of the U.S. forces without any prior consultation with our side= it is an illegal line that ignores the elementary requirement of the armistice agreement and international law of the sea.
The enemies themselves admitted that the "Northern Limit Line" was unilaterally fixed by the side of the U.S. forces in august 1953.
The far-fetched description of the illegal line which was fixed without any legal ground, consent from the other warring party and any notification to the DPRK, as the MDL at the sea cannot be construed otherwise than a brigand's act of drawing a line in the middle of the yard of other's house without any notification and insisting that belongs to him.
We have so far made all sincere efforts to settle the issue of the MDL at the west sea that has been a source of military conflicts.
In particular, now that the issue is related to the matter of armistice, we tried to settle the issue with the side of the U.S. forces, a signatory to the Korean Armistice Agreement . Taking interests of the South Korean authorities into full consideration, we have worked with the utmost magnanimity and patience to settle the issue through the three-way negotiations involving the DPRK, the U.S. and South Korea.
The U.S. forces side backpedaled its earlier claim of its own accord that it could not discuss the issue related to the armistice under any circumstances without a mandate as "allied forces" and took the conflicting attitude by asserting that the issue of the MDL at the west sea should be solved through discussions with the South Korean side which is not a signatory to the Military Armistice Agreement. This was a crafty trick to flee from the responsibility for the unilateral fixing of the "Northern Limit Line."
Under the situation the side of the Korean People's Army declared in September last year the fair and aboveboard MDL at the west sea acceptable to anyone reflecting the desire and demand of the people of the whole country for peace and stability.
Firstly, the MDL at the west sea declared by the DPRK is the most correct MDL at the sea that was fixed to meet the requirements of the Military Armistice Agreement signed by the warring sides.
The paragraph 13 B of the Korean Armistice Agreement stipulates that all the islands lying to the north and west of the provincial boundary line between Hwagnhae-do and Kyonggi-do shall be under the military control of the Korean People's Army, except the island groups of Paengyong-do, Taechong-do, Sochong-do, Yonpyong-do, and U-do, which will shall remain under the military control of the "UN command" side.
Now that the MDL at the West Sea of Korea was fixed as an extension of the boundary line between Hwanghae and Kyonggi provinces (A-B line) laid down under the paragraph of the Korean Armistice Agreement , the armistice-related issue was most correctly handled to meet the requirements of the Armistice Agreement.
Secondly, the MDL at the west sea is the fairest line fixed on the basis of the international law of the sea.
The international law of the sea demands that the two sides maintain the principle of fixing sea boundary at the end of the land or between islands at equidistance.
The MDL fixed by the DPRK at the west sea is an extension passing through the point a of the boundary line (A-B line) between Hwanghae-do and Kyonggi-do, the equidistance between Tungsangod, the tip of the Kangryong peninsula of our side, and Kulop Island under the control of the U.S. forces side, and the equidistance between Ong Island of our side and Sogyokryolbi Island and Sohyop Island under the control of the U.S. forces side. So, sea-related issue existing between warring sides has been settled in the fairest way under the international law of the sea.
The MDL fixed by the DPRK at the west sea is similar to the "imaginary equidistance between the north and south" at the West Sea of Korea laid down in an official document distributed by the U.S. government to the participants in a meeting on the international law of the sea in 1980, which is based on the "UN Convention on the law of the sea."
Thirdly, the MDL at the west sea is an impartial line that enjoys full support from the people at home and abroad.
It mirrors the will of the Korean People's Army and people to defuse tensions in the waters, a source of permanent military conflicts that has been "controversial waters" for nearly half a century after the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement and ensure peace and stability on the Korean peninsula as a whole.
The South Korean authorities, however, have persistently insisted on the "Northern Limit Line" whose falsity has been brought to light. This is intended to get rid of the predicament in which they find themselves after our proclamation of the impartial MDL at the west sea.
We will never pardon a foolish attempt of the South Korean authorities to maintain the "Northern Limit Line" at any cost and the crafty moves of the U.S. who fixed it unilaterally and pretend to be ignorant of it.
There is only the extension of the MDL fixed by the DPRK at the West Sea of Korea.
The U.S. and the South Korean authorities should have a correct understanding of the will and demand of the KPA and the people for peace and reunification, immediately stop all the military provocations at the West Sea of Korea and honor the MDL fixed by the DPRK at the West Sea of Korea.
If they turn their back on the just demand of ours, the U.S. and the South Korean authorities will be held entirely responsible for all the consequences arising therefrom.