N. Korea says OPCON transfer delay is a crime, vows to take decisive action
2014/10/29 23:01
SEOUL, Oct. 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Wednesday blasted Seoul for delaying the taking back of wartime control (OPCON) of its troops from the United States, claiming the decision is a crime against the Korean people.
In a press release made by the Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK), Pyongyang claimed the move is a shameful act that cannot be tolerated.
It argued that delaying the transfer effectively perpetuates the military control of the United States over South Korea and will heighten nuclear war threats on the Korean Peninsula.
"By delaying the OPCON transfer, Seoul showed its intent to fuel inter-Korean hostilities and play along with Washington's ploy to start a war with the North and control the Peninsula forever," the committee said.
The CPRK, which handles all inter-Korean relations, added that those who signed off on the latest OPCON delay will forever be remembered as criminals who sold out the Korean people.
It then said that Koreans will not allow the delay and that firm action would be taken to counter such a step, although it did not elaborate on what actual measures would be taken.
The North, despite rapping the South for the move, did not personally attack President Park Geun-hye by name. The presidential office had confirmed that Park had ordered the pushing back of the OPCON transfer.
The latest verbal attack comes after Seoul and Washington concurred last week that the OPCON transfer should be postponed until the mid-2020s in light of threats coming out of North Korea. Originally, the transfer was stated for late 2015.
South Korea exercises peacetime control of its 639,000 troops, but control would be handed over to a U.S. general in the case of full-fledged hostilities breaking out with North Korea.
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