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N. Korea accuses U.S. troops of partying inside Demilitarized Zone

North Korea on Sunday accused U.S. troops in South Korea of trespassing into the Demilitarized Zone and even partying inside it, threatening "human damage" if such provocations continue.

The threat has been delivered to the South Korean military, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), which claimed that U.S. forces made 50 trespasses from March 1-8.
 

North Korean military guard post stands in North Korea's Kaepoong, in a view from the unification observation post near the border village of the Panmunjom (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas since the Korean War. (AP-Yonhap News)
North Korean military guard post stands in North Korea's Kaepoong, in a view from the unification observation post near the border village of the Panmunjom (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas since the Korean War. (AP-Yonhap News)

About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as a deterrent against North Korea -- a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a truce. Border security, however, has been almost entirely undertaken by South Korean forces since a few years ago.

According to the KCNA, a group of U.S. soldiers recently came within 20 meters of the military demarcation line with women, taking photos and throwing bottles of alcohol toward North Korean troops.

"If the South ignores our warning and allows U.S. invasion forces to act rampantly near the military demarcation line, it shall bear the responsibility for all consequences, including human damage," the KCNA said, quoting the message delivered to the South.

The military demarcation line, one of the world's most heavily guarded borders, runs inside of the Demilitarized Zone, a four-kilometer-wide swath of land bisecting the peninsula. Both were established at the end of the Korean War.

North Korea has been increasing its threats against South Korean and U.S. troops involved in border security in recent years, a move analysts believe is aimed at raising tension as the communist state pushes to unite its regime and raise its stakes in negotiations.

(Yonhap News)


<관련 기사>

北 "미군, 남북관리구역 도발…남측 책임"

서해지구 군사실무책임자 남측에 통지문

(평양 조선중앙통신=연합뉴스) 북한 서해지구 군사실무책임자가 20일 남측에 "미제침략군들이 제멋대로 동서해지구 북남관리구역 군사분계선 가까이에 돌아다니게 한다면 인명피해를 포함해 초래될 모든 후과(결과)에 대해 (남측이) 전적인 책임을 지게 될 것"이라는 통지문을 보냈다고 조선중앙통신이 밝혔다.

중앙통신에 따르면 통지문은 "최근 남측의 묵인 하에 동,서해지구 북남관리구역 군사분계선 일대에서 미제침략군놈들의 도발행위가 급증하고 있다"며 "침략적인 키 리졸브, 독수리 합동군사연습과 때를 같이 해 감행되고 있는 미제침략군의 엄중한 군사도발행위는 물론 그것을 묵인조장하는 남측 처사에 대해 더이상 용납하지 않게될 것임을 미리 통지한다"고 전했다.

통지문은 "북남관리구역 100m 이내로 진입할 경우 상대측에 사전통보하게 된 북남군부 사이의 합의는 안중에도 없이 미제침략군이 매일같이 군사분계선 20m까지 들어와 인원, 차량 감시활동을 하는가 하면 심지어 여자까지 데리고 들어와 사진을 찍거나 술을 마시고는 조선측 초소쪽을 향해 술병을 내던지는 등 도발행위를 감행하고 있다"고 주장했다.

또 "3월1일부터 8일까지의 기간에만도 100여명의 미제침략군들이 무려 50여차례에 걸쳐 아무런 사전통보 없이 서해지구 북남관리구역 군사분계선 100m 안에  들어와 엄중한 도발행위를 감행했다"고 덧붙였다.
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