The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday criticized South Korea for resuming the construction of a naval base in Jeju island, accusing it of making a dangerous move to carry out the U.S. strategy to invade Pyongyang.

In a statement by the Korean National Peace Committee, the official organization in charge of inter-Korean issues, DPRK lashed out at Seoul's plan to resume construction of the naval base in Jeju island, around 90 kms from Pusan, the southernmost point of the Korean Peninsula.

According to DPRK's official KCNA news agency, the construction of the Jeju naval base was started in 1995, but was suspended later due to strong protests from local residents. The South Korean government announced recently that they would resume the construction and finish it by 2014.

"(It is) an extremely dangerous military move ... to convert the Jeju island into an advance base for carrying out the new U.S. military strategy to invade the DPRK," said the statement.

DPRK also accused the construction base of being part of the missile defense system promoted by the United States.

Source: Xinhua