Pyongyang, May 30 (KCNA) -- The military tension on the Korean Peninsula and in the region is being further heightened due to the U.S. and south Korea's military moves against the DPRK in which their aggressive nature is becoming reckless. In this regard, Ri Pyong Chol, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea, made public the following stand for bolstering up the capability for self-defence through the Korean Central News Agency on May 29:

The U.S. forces and the south Korean puppet army are staging the largest-ever "combined joint fire annihilation drill" in Phochon, Kyonggi Province of south Korea adjacent to the Military Demarcation Line for the first time in six years.

The drill aimed to "annihilate" the belligerent party in a true sense of the word will be staged one after another until mid-June. Involved there are various types of offensive arms and equipment of the U.S. forces in south Korea and the puppet army.

Along with this, the U.S. is also scheming to launch a "proliferation security initiative" (PSI) which made the sea blockade against a sovereign state a fait accompli by rallying not only south Korea but also Japan, Australia and other followers under the pretext of " non-proliferation of WMDs " from the end of May.

The U.S. navy's strategic nuclear submarine will soon be deployed in south Korea for the first time in more than 40 years according to the "Washington Declaration" in which the U.S. and south Korea documented the plan for using nuclear weapons against the DPRK in late April.

What should not be overlooked is the fact that the U.S. forces have recently conducted hostile air espionage activities on the Korean Peninsula and in its vicinity on an unprecedented level by mobilizing various air reconnaissance means deployed in the theatre of the Asia-Pacific operations.

In May, the U.S. Air Force RC-135Ss, which had been mobilized to monitor the eastern area of the DPRK outside the exclusive economic zone of the East Sea of Korea, have flown the sky above the West Sea of Korea to constantly conduct surveillance and reconnaissance on the strategic depth of our territory. And various air reconnaissance means, including U-2 high-altitude strategic reconnaissance plane and unmanned fighter, MQ-9 and RQ-4B, are coming close to the sky above frontline maritime of the West Sea of Korea not far away from the Military Demarcation Line and committing espionage acts on the DPRK, especially on the western area, with an extremely provocative and dangerous mode.

The operational radius and watch range of the air reconnaissance assets of the U.S. forces deployed in the Korean Peninsula and acting there comprise the northwestern area of the DPRK including the capital city of Pyongyang and the depth of a neighboring state and its capital, which pose a serious threat to the DPRK and its neighboring states.

Such air reconnaissance extremely overheating the military tensions in the region clearly show the sinister intention of the U.S.-led allied forces to carry out the plan for a preemptive military act against the DPRK, based on overwhelming reconnaissance and information force, in an emergency. And it also fully proves how the enemy is making preparations for the military act of aggression on the DPRK.

With the visit by the U.S. secretary of Defense to south Korea as a momentum, this year has witnessed the deployment of U.S. nuclear strategic offensive means on the Korean Peninsula raised to the level of the constant deployment, the U.S.-south Korea joint drills unprecedented in terms of the scale and period and the air reconnaissance staged on the unprecedented level, all of which are the striking examples showing the present security situation of the Korean Peninsula and have explosion potentiality which would bring a very dangerous subsequent storm and backward flow to the regional situation.

The concerning security environment prevailing in the region owing to the dangerous military acts by the U.S. and its vassal forces requires us to secure as the most pressing task a reliable reconnaissance and information means capable of gathering information about the military acts of the enemy in real time.

So the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea and the six rounds of subsequent plenary meetings of the Party Central Committee set our armed forces a pressing task and issued an order to take a legal-defense measure.

The DPRK's military reconnaissance satellite No. 1 to be launched in June and various reconnaissance means due to be newly tested are indispensable to tracking, monitoring, discriminating, controlling and coping with in advance in real time the dangerous military acts of the U.S. and its vassal forces openly revealing their reckless ambition for aggression as time passes by and to strengthening the military preparedness of the armed forces of the DPRK.

Under the present situation brought by the reckless military acts by the U.S. and south Korea, we steadily feel the need to expand reconnaissance and information means and improve various defensive and offensive weapons and have the timetables for carrying out their development plans.

We will comprehensively consider the present and future threats and put into more thoroughgoing practice the activities for strengthening all-inclusive and practical war deterrents.

The armed forces of the DPRK will discharge in a responsible manner its important mission for reliably defending the state's sovereignty and security. -0-

www.kcna.kp (Juche112.5.30.)