KCNA, Pyongyang, October 25 (KCNA) — It was brought to light that the United States illegally concluded the “Agreement on the Transfer of the U.S. Army Base in Ryongsan” in 1990 and, after that, deliberately put pressure on the south Korean “government” to “legalize” it. South Korean Yonhap News disclosed the truth on the basis of a document of the then “Security Planning Board” titled “Necessary measures for the implementation of the agreement on the transfer of the U.S. army base in Ryongsan,” obtained from An Yong Gun, a “national assemblyman” from the New United Party.
According to the document dated May, 1991, the “South Korea-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement” stipulated that the agreement would come into force only when it was signed by Pan Ki Mun, director of the American Affairs Bureau of the south Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the deputy commander of the U.S. forces in south Korea, who were the representatives of both sides at the joint committee of the SOFA. But the U.S. let the south Korean minister of National Defense and the commander of the U.S. forces in south Korea, not responsible for the conclusion of the agreement, sign it, disregarding such procedure in order to avoid the trouble that might surface in the course of consultation. When there was a strong assertion within the south Korean “government” that the agreement was illegal and invalid as it bore no signature of the south Korean side's representative the U.S. instructed the deputy commander of the U.S. forces in south Korea to force Pan Ki Mun to sign the unilaterally drafted paper which said that he recognized the legality of the agreement in May 1991.
This U.S. arrogant act is touching off bitter indignation among the south Korean people.
