The Japanese daily reported on December 11 that a weekly magazine of The People's Daily, Kuan Qieu , front-paged a story by its Pyongyang correspondent, who asked for an interview with officials of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army and the Ministry of People's Armed Forces.
Nobody has time to answer questions.
The mouthpiece of the ruling Workers Party of Korea referred to the combined war games by four services of the American armed forces which has been under way in and around Okinawa since December 7. The current standoff can be compared to the 1993-94 standoff which brought North Korea and the United States close to nuclear war. The present crisis broke out over an American allegation that a suspicious underground site under construction north of the Yongbyun nuclear complex is for nuclear weapons making. This allegation was first reported by The New York Times on August 17. The Clinton Administration threatened to scrap the 1994 agreed framework unless the Americans get unconditional access to the site.