DPRK criticizes ROK for increasing military budget

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Media from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) criticized the Republic of Korea (ROK) for increasing military budget and holding recent military air drills on Friday.

The Minju Joson daily said in a commentary that the ROK Defense Ministry held a meeting of the Committee for the Promotion of Defense recently and decided to purchase high-tech equipment including early-warning radar against ballistic missiles and the latest anti-submarine aircraft from abroad.

Moreover, the ROK military also staged a combined air drill for combat-readiness under the pretext of taking "security measures," it said.

The paper said such moves were dangerous proceedings contrary to the "military agreement to implement the Panmunjom declaration" in which the two sides promised to remove the danger of war on the Korean Peninsula and put an end to hostile relations.

"The reckless moves of the South Korean military swimming against the trend of the times can never be justified in any case, as they are criminal acts harmful to the development of the present north-south relations."

The ROK military signed a military agreement with the DPRK in September for easing military tension between the two countries and for removing the danger of war, but it "remains unchanged in its military moves against the fellow countrymen in the north," the commentary said.

Such double-dealing behavior against the nation can never be overlooked, it added.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency