WASHINGTON – North Korea tried to take advantage of anti-American sentiment in South Korea by proclaiming yesterday that the United States is the opponent of all Koreans.
The latest provocative maneuver by the communist North Koreans was an attempt to get the South Koreans to support their decision to reactivate their nukes program – a move that has sparked a tense showdown with the United States.
“It can be said that there exists on the Korean Peninsula at present only confrontation between the Koreans in the north and the south and the United States,” the North Korean government said in its New Year’s message.
The message was meant to drive a wedge between South Korea and the United States, its biggest ally with a huge military presence of 37,000 troops along the Korean border.
North Korea’s message went out a day after South Korean President-elect Roh Moo-hyun criticized the idea of sanctions on North Korea.