N. Korea slams S. Korea

This photo shows augmentation troops from member states of the United Nations Command posing at Camp Humphreys, a U.S. military garrison in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Aug. 30. Joint Press Corps

North Korea on Monday renewed its calls for dissolving the U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC), claiming that a plan by South Korea and UNC member states to hold the inaugural defense ministerial meeting this week is a "dangerous" scheme to spark a "new war of aggression" against the North.

South Korea and 17 member states of the UNC will hold their first meeting of defense chiefs and representatives Tuesday in Seoul to explore the role of the UNC in deterring war on the Korean Peninsula and maintaining peace. The UNC oversees the enforcement of the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War.

Calling the UNC a U.S.-led multinational war tool," North Korea's institute for disarmament and peace at the foreign ministry said in a statement that the security situation on the Korean Peninsula has been turned into a "war-oriented structure" by the U.S. and its followers.

"The UNC, which should have been dissolved decades ago, is now revealing its aggressive nature again, seeking to cook up a declaration of confrontation simulating the second Korean war," according to a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The North said the upcoming South Korea-UNC meeting is a "dangerous scheme to ignite a new war of aggression" against Pyongyang at a time when heightened tensions have been aggravated by Washington's deployment of its nuclear strategic assets and large-scale joint military drills between the South and the U.S.

"The illegal and aggressive 'U.N. Command' should be dissolved without delay, and this is an essential prerequisite for restoring the authority and impartiality of the U.N. and promoting peace and stability of the Korean peninsula," the KCNA said.

At Tuesday's meeting, the participants plan to urge North Korea to cease "unlawful activities" and abide by the U.N. Security Council resolutions, and adopt a joint declaration calling for collective responses in case of contingencies on the peninsula, according to Seoul's defense ministry.

The UNC was established on July 24, 1950, upon the outbreak of the Korean War, as the world's first unified command structure, which led the multinational military forces supporting South Korea. Marking the 70th anniversary of the signing of the armistice, South Korea is seeking to become a member state of the UNC. (Yonhap)