DPRK accuses S. Korea of torching national flag, leader's photo

PYONGYANG, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK) on Tuesday accused South Korean conservative forces of torching the DPRK flag and a photograph of its top leader Kim Jong Un.

In a statement quoted by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a spokesperson of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country made the accusation.

The unnamed spokesperson asked the South Korean government to apologize for the incident, punish those involved in the "crime", and take measures to prevent the recurrence of such acts.

According to the KCNA report, South Korea's "Korean Patriotic Party" held a press conference against the DPRK's participation in the upcoming Winter Olympics to be hosted by South Korea, and burned a picture of Kim as well as a DPRK flag at the plaza of Seoul Railways Station Monday.

It was "timed to coincide" with a DPRK field survey delegation's visit to South Korea ahead of the DPRK art troupe, the spokesperson said.

The delegation headed by Hyon Song Wol, leader of the Samjiyon Orchestra, arrived on a two-day visit to the South Korean area Sunday to learn about the preparations for the performance by the DPRK's art troupe, the KCNA said in another report Tuesday.

"This is a never-to-be-condoned hideous crime as it is an intolerable mockery of the sincerity and effort being made by the DPRK for improvement of the north-south relations and a deliberate political provocation to turn the Olympic into a theater for escalating confrontation between the north and the south," the spokesperson was quoted as saying.

"What should not be overlooked is the south Korean authorities' behavior of conniving at such serious politically-motivated provocation."

The spokesperson also said that after the incident, "we can not but take a serious consideration of our follow-up measures regarding the Winter Olympics," warning that if the north-south agreement and schedules for the DPRK's participation in the Olympics were canceled due to the confrontational act, the conservative group and the South Korean government would bear full responsibility for the consequences. Enditem