DPRK makes new proposals on S. Korea warship sinking probe
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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) put forward a new package of proposal that aimed at providing evidence for the probe into the sinking of South Korean warship Cheonan, the official news agency KCNA reported on Tuesday.
The DPRK made the proposal during the sixth round of DPRK-U.S. senior colonel-level military working contact in the truce village of Panmunjom at the border between the DPRK and South Korea.
The new package included a landmark call for bringing to Panmunjom such "evidence" as torpedo screw and designs for the torpedo and both sides making an analysis before the DPRK-U.S. general-level military talks and inspection of a military base, the report said.
On March 26, South Korean frigate Cheonan, with 104 crew members aboard, sank near the maritime border with the DPRK after an unexplained explosion. South Korean investigators released the results of their inquiry on May 20, saying the warship was sunk by a DPRK torpedo, a claim vehemently rejected by Pyongyang.
The report said the U.S. forces made an "unreasonable assertion" that they would hold the DPRK-U.S. general-level military talks to unilaterally release its investigation results.
The U.S. side has not studied the DPRK's "reasonable proposal and failed to set forth any alternative to it, thus deliberately throwing a hurdle in discussing the issue," said the report.
"The DPRK can never recognize the results of investigation announced by the U.S. forces side (which is) groundlessly defending the sheer lies" made by South Korea, the report said.
The DPRK and the United States agreed to hold the next round of contact around Oct. 20, according to the report.
