The statement vehemently denounced the south Korean military authorities for committing such armed provocation as challenging independence and peace in violation of the agreement between the north and the south.

Terming the above-said provocation a challenge to Songun Korea, the statement urged the south Korean authorities to immediately stop such military action against the DPRK and apologize for it.

But for the Songun politics pursued by General Secretary Kim Jong Il and the DPRK's nuclear deterrent, another war would have been ignited on the Korean Peninsula by the south Korean puppet clique and the U.S. imperialists, noted the statement.

It called upon all the followers of the Juche idea, the Songun idea, to unite close around the DPRK, a bulwark of socialism.