N. Korea criticizes U.S. military in S. Korea during Obama trip

(ATTN: UPDATES lead, ADDS Obama's remarks to U.S. soldiers, minor edits, RESTRUCTURES)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Nov. 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korea blamed the U.S. military in South Korea
for stoking regional tension in contrast to its own "sincere" peace efforts, a
routine claim that surfaced again as U.S. President Barack Obama visited Seoul on
Thursday.
Otherwise, North Korea quietly observed Obama's two-day trip here, during which
he announced that the U.S. special envoy for North Korea policy, Stephen
Bosworth, will visit Pyongyang on Dec. 8 to engage the isolated country.
"The DPRK (North Korea) has made sincere efforts to defuse the tension on the
Korean Peninsula and improve the inter-Korean relations," the Rodong Sinmun, the
North's major newspaper published by the Workers' Party, said.
"However, the bellicose forces of the United States and South Korea are going
ahead with frantic moves for a war of aggression against the DPRK," the paper
argued in an article carried by the Korean Central News Agency.
Some 28,500 U.S. soldiers are stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53
Korean War, serving as a safeguard against the North. Obama accentuated the U.S.
troop presence here by choosing a U.S. air base as his single private tour in the
country and the last destination of his Asia trip.
"America's commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea will never waver,"
Obama told some 1,500 U.S. service members who gathered at the Osan Air Base,
south of Seoul.
The North Korean paper claimed, "The U.S. imperialist aggressor forces' presence
in South Korea and their daily intensifying moves for a war of aggression against
the DPRK are the main factor of disturbing peace and security on the Korean
Peninsula."
As examples of military threats against North Korea, the article cited the
allies' joint military drills, the U.S. decision to keep the 8th Army Command of
the U.S. forces in South Korea rather than move it to Hawaii and programs to
update weapons and equipment. The paper also renewed accusations that South
Korea's Navy initiated the inter-Korean naval skirmish in the Yellow Sea on Nov.
10.
"The above-said moves of the U.S. and South Korean militaries are dangerous
developments as they vitiate the atmosphere of dialogue," the paper asserted.
In their summit, President Lee Myung-bak and the U.S. leader voiced their
unanimous commitment to efforts to terminate the North's nuclear weapons program.
Obama urged North Korea to "break the pattern" of alternating between provocative
behavior and dialogue to receive more concessions.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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