By Kim Young-jin
A U.S. official flatly denied, Monday, allegations by North Korea that U.S. troops stationed here had trespassed and “cavorted” in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
Pyongyang’s state-run media claimed on Sunday that American soldiers trespassed 50 times from March 1 to 8 and had taken photographs and thrown beer bottles at North Korean troops.
“We are aware of the reporting. There is no truth to the reports,” U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) spokesman David Oten said, adding he couldn’t speculate on why North Korea would make the allegation.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Sunday a message had been sent to the South Korean military regarding the alleged incidents. It claimed that the soldiers came within 20 meters of the military demarcation line, accompanied by women.
“If the South ignores our warning and allows U.S. invasion forces to act rampantly near the military demarcation line, it shall bear the responsibility for all consequences, including human damage,” the report quoted the message as saying.
Some 28,500 American troops are stationed in the South as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. The military demarcation line runs through in the DMZ, which is regarded as the world’s most heavily-guarded border.
Observers say Pyongyang routinely threatens South Korean and American soldiers near the border in an apparent bid to ratchet up tension to bolster its military-first ideology and raise negotiation stakes.
A battalion of the U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC), comprised of some 650 troops, is stationed in the Joint Security Area of the DMZ, of which 40 are U.S. officers. Security around the border is carried out mostly by South Korean troops.
The threat contrasted with recent conciliatory gestures by Pyongyang such as settling a spat over 31 North Koreans who drifted into southern waters last month, and calling for talks on potential volcanic activity at a mountain in the North.
Seoul said Monday it was still unable to repatriate 27 of the 31 North Koreans who wish to return due to engine problems on the boat they drifted here on.
The group accidentally crossed the tense maritime border Feb. 5 while fishing, Seoul says. Four of them eventually decided to defect, angering Pyongyang which insisted for almost two weeks on only accepting the repatriation of the entire group.
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