NK media-US threat

NK media-US threat N. Korean newspaper claims U.S. threat to world peace SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's state-run newspaper claimed Friday that efforts by the United States to start a war on the Korean Peninsula is a threat to peace throughout the world. The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, said Washington will use the invasion of North Korea as a springboard for its broader plan to conquer the world. The article titled "The fight for Asian and global peace" argued that to ensure the world is not put at risk, the threat of war must be removed once and for all from the Korean Peninsula. The claim marks the first time that the communist country's media outlet attacked the United States in the new year, and can be seen as a detailed elaboration of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's New Year message. Kim said in the message broadcast early Tuesday that the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia remain hotbeds of tension. He then warned against plots by imperialistic powers to engage in a war of conquest. Rodong Sinmun added that the U.S.'s plan to launch a second Korean War can be seen in the concentration of offensive forces in South Korea as well as in Okinawa, Japan; Hawaii, U.S. and other places around the Pacific region. It, moreover, said U.S. presence in South Korea is the root source of all tension and the cause for the division of the Korean Peninsula, indirectly reiterating Pyongyang's long-held demands for the withdrawal of all American troops. North Korea has consistently called for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Korea as a precondition to establishing a permanent peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. yonngong@yna.co.kr (END)