[Caption]We interrupt our coverage of the Obama administration dreaming about removing Muammar Qaddafi and spreading a dictator-neutralizing virus worldwide, to bring you breaking news from North Korea.

The Inspection Group of the DPRK (North Korea) National Defense Commission (NDC) broadcast a press statement over the Korean Central Broadcasting Station about events last year.

“One year has passed since the warship Ch’o'nan (Cheonan) sank in the waters off Paengnyo’ng Island in the West Sea of Korea (Yellow Sea)…. Nonetheless, the incumbent South Korean authorities and military warmongers who are inveterate (sic.) in North-South confrontation and in distrusting their fellow countrymen are continuing to get heated up in kicking up the anti-Republic racket of confrontation, while still linking the incident of the sinking of the warship Ch’o'nan to us and shirking the responsibility for the Yo’np’yo’ng (Yeong Pyeong) Island artillery battle over to us.

Although those who met tragic deaths were the South Korean military men and officers who had pointed their bayonets at us, in the initial wake of the incident of the sinking of the warship Ch’o'nan, we also expressed our regret, as they, too, were members of the same nation.”

Translation: We can still kill all of you capitalist dupes. But, sailors are proles, and they got in our way. Sorry?

This is in the context of negotiations between the US and North Korea in Berlin. (And yes, I do believe “progress” can be measured in process, even when Pyongyang is involved. At least, I haven’t supported the Libyan rebels!)

Ri Gun, director general of the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s North American Affairs Bureau, said closed-door talks in Berlin with former U.S. officials were constructive and allowed both sides to voice their opinions.

Ri said both countries agreed to improve communication and work to solve problems through dialogue and negotiation. Ri would not elaborate further because the meeting was unofficial, and the meeting coordinator said both countries agreed that only North Korea would make a statement. The North Korean delegation was led by Ri and his deputy, Choe Son Hui, and the U.S. delegation was led by Tom Pickering, former undersecretary of state for political affairs at the State Department.

And, for spleen, this comment is priceless: “The issues are not a failure of dialogue, but a failure of North Korea to stop proliferation, halt preparations for a third nuclear test, apologize for sinking a South Korean corvette and pay reparations for destroying an island village.” So, now some part of the North Korean bureaucracy has apologized for sinking the Cheonan – sort of – so I guess peace is just a few generations away. Perhaps, it’s because of the fourth session of the 12th SPA [Supreme People’s Assembly] of the DPRK.

I wonder if this is a South Korean rejoinder – of sorts.

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Filed under: Korea, Maritime, Military, USA Tagged: dprk, libya, north korea, pyongyang traffic girls, ri gun, rok, roks cheonan, South Korea