N. Korea Accuses US Of Brining "Heavy Arms" Into DMZ, Threatens Military Action

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N. Korea accuses U.S. of bringing heavy arms into truce village


SEOUL, June 28 (Yonhap) -- North Korea accused the United States Monday of bringing "heavy weapons" into their truce village at the Demilitarized Zone, warning of strong military measures if they are not quickly withdrawn.

The warning from the Panmunjom Mission of the North's Korean People's Army (KPA) came just after a foreign ministry statement that Pyongyang will bolster its nuclear arsenal "in a new way" to counter what it calls U.S. hostile policy and military threats.

"The U.S. forces side introduced those weapons at around 7:25 a.m. on June 26," the North's Panmunjom Mission said in a message cited by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "The introduction of heavy weapons to the area around the conference hall where armed forces of both sides stand in acute confrontation is a premeditated provocation aimed to spark off a serious military conflict."

Panmunjom is jointly guarded by forces from the U.S and the two divided Koreas. It is where the U.S.-led U.N. Command signed a truce with China and North Korea to end the 1950-53 Korean War.

The U.S. "should withdraw all those weapons already introduced from the area at once," the message was quoted as saying. "In case it does not comply with the principled demand of the KPA side, (the North) will take strong military countermeasures in the said area."