N. Korea urges U.S. forces to stop provocative acts in Panmunjom

SEOUL, April 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Friday called on the U.S. forces to stop provocative acts at the truce village of Panmunjom, located between the two Koreas, the country's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

According to the KCNA report, a spokesman for the Panmunjom mission of the Korean People's Army (KPA) claimed the U.S. forces have conducted "provocative acts that rattled the nerves of the KPA side in Panmunjom."

In a statement, the spokesman said, "The U.S. GIs carried out such dangerous provocations as aiming their guns at the KPA side at the Oryonggye guard post on April 20 and 21."

Insisting that such provocations continued until April 26, the KPA mission spokesman said American GIs on patrol duty pointed their fingers at KPA service personnel on guard duty, and even made weird remarks on April 7.

"On April 10, they mocked the KPA side with disgusting expressions and behavior," the spokesman said.

He said the service personnel of the KPA in Panmunjom keep themselves fully ready to mercilessly punish the provocateurs if their reckless actions go beyond the tolerance level.

"What should not be overlooked is that such serious provocations are timed to coincide with the unprecedented all-out offensive to stifle the DPRK by force -- the Key Resolve and the Foal Eagle joint war drills," the spokesman was quoted as saying by the KCNA.

South Korea and the United States are set to end their two monthlong joint military exercises this week. The allies kicked off the annual field exercise on March 7, along with the Key Resolve command post exercise, which ran for two weeks, followed by the Foal Eagle exercise.

Also, the KPA spokesman said if any clash occurs under the present situation where there is no legal and institutional mechanism to prevent physical clashes between both sides, it is bound to lead to an unpredictable outcome.

"The U.S. imperialists and their stooges should not forget even for a moment what a miserable end they will meet as they recklessly act in the area at the risk of death."
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