(LEAD) N. Korea steps up criticism of S. Korea-U.S. deterrence plan

North Korean workers and members of social groups have joined the North’s criticism of a recent summit agreement between South Korea and the United States on strengthening U.S. extended deterrence, according to state media Thursday.

The working class and trade union members held a protest in the border city of Kaesong the previous day, saying that the whole country was “enraged with the will to destruct the enemies,” according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The KCNA said participants slammed Seoul and Washington over their joint military drills and the deployment of strategic assets, saying that the recent “nuclear war scheme” laid bare to the world who is threatening peace and safety on the Korean Peninsula and the region.

In a separate dispatch, the KCNA reported that ranking members of the Socialist Women’s Union of Korea and women workers held a meeting the previous day and “sternly pledged their determination for revenge.”

The state media also reported slogans and propaganda material denouncing Seoul and Washington and encouraging people to take revenge against them were displayed across the country.

Source: Yonhap News Agency