(LEAD) N. Korea steps up criticism of S. Korea-U.S. deterrence plan

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By Lee Minji

SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korean workers and members of social groups have joined the North's criticism of a recent summit agreement between South Korea and the United States on strengthening U.S. extended deterrence, according to state media Thursday.

The working class and trade union members held a protest in the border city of Kaesong the previous day, saying that the whole country was "enraged with the will to destruct the enemies," according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The KCNA said participants slammed Seoul and Washington over their joint military drills and the deployment of strategic assets, saying that the recent "nuclear war scheme" laid bare to the world who is threatening peace and safety on the Korean Peninsula and the region.

In a separate dispatch, the KCNA reported that ranking members of the Socialist Women's Union of Korea and women workers held a meeting the previous day and "sternly pledged their determination for revenge."

The state media also reported slogans and propaganda material denouncing Seoul and Washington and encouraging people to take revenge against them were displayed across the country.

The reports are the latest in Pyongyang's escalating criticism of Seoul and Washington following an agreement by President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden last week to strengthen Washington's extended deterrence against the North's threats.

In particular, the KCNA reported Wednesday that North Korean youths held a rally where participants burned an effigy depicting the "invaders and provocateurs," apparently referring to Yoon and Biden.

South Korea's unification ministry voiced regret over the report, saying the North "went too far."

"It is very regrettable that an action of criticism that goes too far, like the burning ceremony, was announced through official media," a ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

He said Pyongyang may have strongly denounced the outcome of the latest summit in a bid to tighten its reins over the North Korean public by highlighting external threats.

The North has yet to release photos of the purported burning ceremony, spawning speculation that the North may have only reported the event for means of propaganda without actually holding it.

"It is difficult to assess at this stage whether North Korea is attempting to control the extent of its expression of dissatisfaction or there are other factors to be considered," the ministry official said.

Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of the North's leader Kim Jong-un, issued the North's first response to the Yoon-Biden summit Saturday, warning Pyongyang could take "more decisive" action to deal with the change in the security environment.

mlee@yna.co.kr
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