DPRK News March 17
Greetings to Malawian Foreign Minister
Asian regional meeting held
Reception given by Russian ambassador
Outer Kumgang tortoise habitat
Ishihara's anti-DPRK diatribe flayed
Japan's reinvasion will lead to its self-destruction
Japan's reinvasion will lead to its self-destruction
Real threat comes from Japan
S. Korean women workers meet
"Intelligence Service" hit for trying to meddle in inter-Korean dialogue
Joint meeting proposed
Anti-DPRK campaign in Japan denounced
Bulgarian preparatory committee formed
FOR SPANISH-SPEAKING PEOPLE
Greetings to Malawian Foreign Minister
Pyongyang, March 17 (KCNA) -- DPRK Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun sent a
message of greetings to Lilian
Patel, newly appointed Foreign Minister of Malawi.
The message expressed the belief that the friendly and cooperative
relations between the two countries would
grow stronger and develop and wished him success in his responsible work.
Asian regional meeting held
Pyongyang, March 17 (KCNA) -- An Asian regional meeting for agreement
on trade freight transport of the
organization of railway cooperation was held here from March 11 to 16.
Present there were delegations of the DPRK, China, Russia, Mongolia,
Vietnam and Kazakhstan.
The meeting reviewed the past work and discussed an agreement on the
tasks of trade freight transport for
2000, working-level issues to implement them, the place and period of the
next meeting and other matters.
A protocol of the meeting was signed on March 16.
Reception given by Russian ambassador
Pyongyang, March 17 (KCNA) -- Russian ambassador to the DPRK Valery
Denisov gave a reception at the
embassy yesterday on the occasion of the 51st anniversary of the signing of
the agreement on economic and cultural
cooperation between the DPRK and the Russian Federation.
Present on invitation were Kang Jong Mo, Minister of Foreign Trade, Ri
In Gyu, vice-Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Song Sok Hwan, vice-Minister of Culture, Ri Song Ho, vice-chairman
of the Committee for Cultural
Relations with Foreign Countries and chairman of the DPRK-Russia Friendship
Association, and other officials
concerned.
Speeches were made at the reception.
Outer Kumgang tortoise habitat
Pyongyang, March 17 (KCNA) -- A pond in Kosong county, Kangwon Province
on the east coast of Korea, is
a habitat of outer Kumgang tortoises. The pond is about 30 hectares wide
and its bottom is layered with mud over
sand.
This amphibian tortoise is native to northeast Asia. The specimens
occur in Kosong and Thongchon counties of
Kangwon Province, Jangphung county in Kaesong city and Paechon, Yonan and
Ongjin counties of South
Hwanghae Province. Its shell averages 15 to 20 cm in length and it weighs
1.2 to 1.5kg. The shell is divided into
top shields, or solid plates and underside shields. Normally found on ponds
or riversides, it feeds on fish and frogs
but can go without food for several years on end.
Its four thick and short legs are charcoal gray and its webfoot enable
it to swim. It lays three to nine white eggs
and buries them in the sand. The eggs are hatched in 60 days.
The tortoise is a rare animal whose supplies are swiftly deleted on the
planet. It is under special protection in the
DPRK.
Ishihara's anti-DPRK diatribe flayed
Pyongyang, March 17 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Korean National Peace
Committee issued a statement
yesterday denouncing Tokyo metropolitan governor Shintaro Ishihara for
letting loose a very provocative and
bellicose diatribe against the DPRK.
The spokesman said:
Ishihara's blast eloquently proves that the world's peaceloving people
have to closely follow the movement of
the Japanese right-wing reactionaries to revive militarism. Those who like
to play with fire are bound to be burnt to
death.
We cannot live with such ultra-right elements as Ishihara under the
same sky. As long as they are left intact,
peace and security in northeast Asia and the world cannot be guaranteed.
We express the belief that the peaceloving people and peace
organizations in Japan and the rest of the world
would actively rise up in the struggle to oust such lunatics as Ishihara
who are overheated with the fever of war from
the political circles and achieve world peace and security.
Japan's reinvasion will lead to its self-destruction
Pyongyang, March 17 (KCNA) -- Japan is keen on the moves for overseas
military expansion.
The national defence council of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan
at a meeting on March 8 formally
approved of the bill on promoting the Defence Agency to the "Ministry of
Defence".
A brisk work is now under way in the Japanese diet to rewrite the
present constitution bereft of its nature and
mission as the "pacifist constitution" as a war constitution following the
adoption of the legislation related to the
"Japan-U.S. Defence Cooperation Guidelines".
Japan has made a complete switchover in its military strategy from
attaching importance to "repelling attack
from the north" in the period of the cold war to giving importance to
"beating back attack from the west." The
"Self-Defence Forces" have been reorganized according to it and they are
equipped with modern, long-range and
large combat means.
The Ministry of Finance of Japan allotted 4,935.6 billion yen as the
draft military budget for the fiscal 2000.
Against the backdrop of ever more undisguised moves to turn Japan into
a military giant and its military
overseas expansion, Tokyo metropolitan governor Shintaro Ishihara on March
7 let loose a bellicose remark that
"Japan will destroy North Korea at a blow".
Japan's target is the Korean peninsula.
The spokesmen for the DPRK Foreign Ministry and the DPRK Committee for
Investigation Into the Damage
Done by the Japanese Imperialists During Their Occupation of Korea and
others declared that the DPRK would deal
a decisive blow to any attempt of Japan against the DPRK.
The DPRK will not be trampled underfoot by Japanese sandals.
The DPRK where the leader, the party and the masses are united
single-heartedly, has already become a
politically and militarily strong country, and the Korean People's Army has
become an invincible army whose
soldiers are ready to become human bombs.
The Korean people are enraged at Japan keen only on the moves for
reinvasion of Korea, instead of making an
apology and compensation.
If Japan dares make a preemptive strike at the DPRK, "Hinomaru" and
"Kimigayo" will remain forever historic
relics only.
Real threat comes from Japan
Pyongyang, March 17 (KCNA) -- Rodong Sinmun today in a signed
commentary assails the Japanese Defence
Agency's recent report titled "Strategic review of 2000 in East Asia" in
which it expressed "concern" about the
"suspected military orientation of North Korean nuclear research and its
increasing guided missile potential."
It has already been known to the world that there is no "nuclear
suspicion" in the DPRK, the commentary says,
and goes on:
As far as the "missile issue" is concerned, it is rubbish. Japan
described the DPRK's launch of its satellite as a
"launch of ballistic missile" only to suffer disgrace in the international
arena.
The DPRK is exposed to a threat from Japan. The Japanese reactionaries'
overseas aggression is imminent and
the DPRK is the first target of its attack.
Quite clear is the real aim sought by them in falsifying the truth and
clamoring about "threat" from the DPRK.
Their intention is to divert elsewhere the public watchful eyes on them
by raising a hue and cry over "threat"
from the DPRK.
Their another aim is to foster anti-DPRK feelings among Japanese people.
Their anti-DPRK false propaganda is aimed to cover up such
black-hearted intention of Japan.
But there can be no confusing of right and wrong. It is well known to
the world that the real threat comes from
Japan
S. Korean women workers meet
Pyongyang, March 17 (KCNA) -- The South Korean Confederation of Trade
Unions (KCTU) held a "national
meeting of women workers" in Seoul on March 11 calling for equal employment
and maternity protection, a South
Korean newspaper said.
The participants demanded improved treatment of women who are given
only odd jobs, women's participation
in decision-making bodies of organizations at all levels and guarantee of
maternity leave and opposed the
discrimination against women which has become a social trend.
Then they staged a street demonstration.
The KCTU said that the confederation and its affiliated unions would
spearhead a sustained struggle to push for
the women's demands. It also vowed to hold rallies calling for the right of
women workers in different areas.
"Intelligence Service" hit for trying to meddle in inter-Korean dialogue
Pyongyang, March 17 (KCNA) -- The secretariat of the Committee for the
Peaceful Reunification of the
Fatherland issued information bulletin no. 805 yesterday as regards the
recent ill-boding attempt of the "Intelligence
Service", a fascist plot-breeding body in South Korea, to meddle in the
north-south dialogue.
The information bulletin said:
Last year the DPRK government proposed to hold talks between the
authorities of the north and the south and
suggested three priorities to the south side's authorities to make the
talks fruitful. But no practical step has been
taken so far in South Korea though one year has passed since then.
The recent undesirable attempt of the "Intelligence Service" of South
Korea to imprudently meddle in the
north-south dialogue revealed its black-hearted intention to use it again
as a lever for anti-north operations.
The "Intelligence Service" is headquarters for its anti-communist
operations as it specializes in fostering distrust
and discord among compatriots, while running wild to escalate confrontation
with the north.
With the "Intelligence Service" left intact, it is impossible to expect
any improvement of inter-Korean relations.
If the "Intelligence Service" is allowed to shamelessly poke its nose
into the dialogue, we will consider it to be
an intentional and premeditated move to torpedo the dialogue and take a
corresponding step.
Joint meeting proposed
Pyongyang, March 17 (KCNA) -- The Korean Measure Committee for Rescuing
Unconverted Long-Term
Prisoners in South Korea yesterday sent a letter to the organizations
related to the Promotion of the Repatriation of
Unconverted Long-Term Prisoners in South Korea and abroad proposing to hold
a joint meeting of compatriots in
the north, south and overseas in a third country in April to take a joint
action.
The letter expressed thanks to these organizations for their positive
activities and sincere efforts to send the
unconverted long-term prisoners detained in South Korea back to the
northern half of Korea as soon as possible
where their families and relatives are waiting for them.
Noting that the South Korean rulers are using this issue for a
political bargaining under an absurd pretext, the
letter said that the issue can be smoothly settled only through a joint
struggle of all the fellow countrymen in the
north, south and overseas.
It further said:
The Korean Measure Committee for Rescuing Unconverted Long-Term
Prisoners in South Korea expresses the
belief that your organizations which are waging a righteous struggle in
South Korea and overseas for the repatriation
of the unconverted long-term prisoners will positively support and respond
to our proposal from a patriotic and
humanitarian stand.
Anti-DPRK campaign in Japan denounced
Pyongyang, March 17 (KCNA) -- The spokesman for the central committee
of the DPRK Red Cross Society
today issued a statement denouncing the Japanese right-wing reactionary
forces for their recent anti-DPRK campaign
over what they called "kidnapping issue".
The statement says:
At a time when the Red Cross societies of the DPRK and Japan are
working in real earnest to search for
"missing persons" under their agreement, ultra right forces of Japan are
mobilizing the organizations allegedly to
save those "kidnapped" and their families and supporters for ceaseless
anti-DPRK campaigns over the "kidnapping
issue."
Drawing attention to this happening, the statement notes:
This row was kicked up at a time when there is a climate for improved
relations between the DPRK and Japan
as evidenced by holding of the DPRK-Japan Red Cross talks and others. We
cannot construe this otherwise than an
intentional move to bar the talks and a premeditated action to prevent the
inter-governmental talks for the
improvement of relations between the two countries from opening.
Japan should bear in mind that the Japanese right-wing reactionaries'
anti-DPRK campaign will bring them to
nowhere.
They are well advised to face up to reality, do soul searching and
behave themselves. This is good for Japan,
too.
Bulgarian preparatory committee formed
Pyongyang, March 17 (KCNA) -- A Bulgarian preparatory committee was
formed on March 10 to
commemorate Sun's Day, the birth anniversary of the President Kim Il Sung.
Prof. and Dr. Georgi Stoyanov, chairman of the Bulgaria-DPRK Friendship
Association, was elected chairman
of the preparatory committee, and Boris Petkov, president of the executive
council of the central committee of the
Bulgarian Communist Party (Marxists), and Simeon Ignatov, chairman of the
Sofia City Anti-fascist Fighters
Committee, vice-chairmen.
The chairman of the preparatory committee in his speech at the
inaugural meeting said that the august name of
Kim Il Sung will continue to shine brightly with the century. Bulgaria will
make it traditional to commemorate Sun's
Day as a holiday common to humankind, he added.
The meeting decided to organize multifarious events on the occasion of
Sun's Day.
For Spanish-speaking people
organizacion de rpdc propone
pyongyang, 17 de marzo (atcc) -- el comite coreano de medidas por
salvacion de presos de largas condenas no
abjurados de surcorea envio ayer a las organizaciones en surcorea y
ultramar de promocion de devolucion de estos
presos una carta proponiendo efectuar en abril en un tercer pais la reunion
conjunta del norte, el sur y el ultramar
para discutir el problema de desplegar la accion comun.
la carta expresa agradecimiento a las organizaciones en surcorea y
ultramar de promocion que despliegan
dinamicas actividades y hacen sinceros esfuerzos por devolver cuanto antes
a los presos de largas condenas no
abjurados de surcorea a la parte norte de la republica donde les esperan
sus familiares y parientes.
la carta senala que los gobernantes surcoreanos bajo el absurdo
pretexto aprovechan el problema de devolucion
de esos presos como regateo politico y apunta que este problema se puede
resolver satisfactoriamente con la lucha
comun de todos los coreanos del norte, el sur y el ultramar.
el comite coreano de medidas por salvacion de presos de largas condenas
no abjurados de surcorea esta
convencido de que vuestras organizaciones que despliegan justas actividades
en surcorea y el ultramar para la
devolucion de esos presos daran en la posicion patriotica y humanitaria
activo apoyo y consentimiento a la propuesta
del norte, senala la carta.
vocero de cc de asociacion de cruz roja de rpdc demanda
pyongyang, 17 de marzo (atcc) -- el vocero del comite central de la
asociacion de la cruz roja de la republica
popular democratica de corea hizo publica hoy una declaracion oral
condenando a las fuerzas reaccionarias
ultraderechistas del japon que vociferan de "secuestro" levantando campana
contra la rpdc.
el vocero senala:
se tiene interes en la averiguacion de los "desaparecidos" segun el
acuerdo logrado entre las organizaciones de
cruz roja de la rpdc y el japon mientras las fuerzas ultraderechistas en el
japon azuzan a las organizaciones de
salvacion de "japoneses secuestrados", los "familiares de los japoneses
secuestrados" y sus partidarios a levantar
alborotos contra la rpdc so pretexto de "repto".
esta campana que coincide con las conversaciones de cruz roja y otros
movimientos por la mejora de las
relaciones entre la rpdc y el japon constituye una accion premeditada para
llevarlas al fracaso y un eslabon de las
maquinaciones encaminadas a impedir las conversaciones intergubernamentales
para la mejora de las relaciones entre
ambos paises.
los reaccionarios derechistas del japon deben tener presente de que no
podran sacar ningun provecho de su
locura que irrita a la rpdc.
deben distinguir claramente la realidad, reflexionar y actuar con
prudencia para su pais.
amenaza proviene de japon
pyongyang, 17 de marzo (atcc) -- el diario "rodong sinmun" en un
comentario de hoy inserto un comentario
denunciando el hecho de que el informe "observacion estrategica del ano
2000, asia oriental" publicado
recientemente por la agencia de defensa del japon expresa "preocupacion por
la sospecha del rumbo militar de la
investigacion nuclear y el aumento de la potencialidad de misil
teledirigido de norcorea".
el comentario senala:
el mundo reconoce ya que no existe la "sospecha nuclear" de la rpdc y
en cuanto al "problema de misil" el japon
sufrio la deshonra en la palestra internacional al calificar de misil
balistico el lanzamiento del satelite espacial de la
rpdc.
la amenaza contra la rpdc proviene del japon. esta inminente la hora de
la agresion al ultramar de los
reaccionarios japoneses. el primer blanco de ataque de estos es la rpdc.
ellos tergivesan la verdad y vociferan de la "amenaza" de la rpdc con
el fin de apartar la mirada de vigilancia
dirigida a si mismos e inculcar el sentimiento de hostilidad a la rpdc al
pueblo japones.
con tal siniestra intencion el japon desata la demagogia contra la rpdc.
pero no puede cambiar el blanco por el negro. la amenaza a la rpdc
viene del japon. el mundo lo ve claramente.
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