DPRK News March 29
Kim Yong Nam meets Italian Foreign Minister
Paek Nam Sun meets Italian FM and his party
Hong Song Nam meets Italian Foreign Minister
Talks between DPRK FM and Italian FM
Joint statement signed between DPRK and Italian governments
Joint communique on Italian Foreign Minister's visit to DPRK
Reception given for Italian guests
DPRK and Namibian Foreign ministers exchange greetings
KCNA warns S. Korean warmongers not to act rashly
U.S. urged to compensate for loss of electricity in DPRK
Japan urged to properly approach inter-governmental talks
S. Korean trade unions to launch wide-spread spring struggle
KCNA warns Japan of militarization and fascistization
Check of Japan's preaching of militarism called for
Preparatory committees formed abroad
Lebanese youth Juche idea study group formed
Kim Yong Nam meets Italian Foreign Minister
Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- Kim Yong Nam, President of the presidium
of the DPRK Supreme People's
Assembly, met and had a talk with Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini
and his party in a friendly atmosphere at
the Mansudae Assembly Hall today.
Present there were DPRK Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun, vice-Minister of
Foreign Affairs Pak Tong Chun
and other officials concerned and Italian ambassador to the DPRK Paolo Bruni.
Lamberto Dini expressed deep thanks for the friendly and cordial
hospitality accorded to them.
He said that the two countries established diplomatic ties on the
principle of mutual respect, sovereignty and
equality and that Italy would make every possible effort to develop the
friendly relations between the two countries.
Paek Nam Sun meets Italian FM and his party
Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- DPRK Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun today
met and had a talk in a
friendly atmosphere with his Italian counterpart Lamberto Dini and his party.
Present there were Pak Tong Chun, vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, and
Paolo Bruni, Italian ambassador to
the DPRK.
Hong Song Nam meets Italian Foreign Minister
Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- Premier Hong Song Nam of the DPRK cabinet
met and had a friendly talk
with Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini and his party at the Mansudae
Assembly Hall today.
Present there were Kang Jong Mo, Minister of Foreign Trade, Pak Tong
Chun, vice-Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Song Sok Hwan, vice-Minister of Culture, Hong Son Ok,
vice-chairwoman of the Korean Committee for
Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, and other officials concerned
and Paolo Bruni, Italian ambassador to the
DPRK.
Talks between DPRK FM and Italian FM
Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- Talks between the DPRK Foreign Minister
Paek Nam Sun and his Italian
counterpart Lamberto Dini were held at the Mansudae Assembly Hall today.
At the talks, both sides discussed the issue of developing in depth the
bilateral relations in political, economic,
cultural and other fields in keeping with the establishment of diplomatic
relations between the two countries and
exchanged views on matters of mutual concern.
Present there were Pak Tong Chun, vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, and
officials concerned on the DPRK side
and Lamberto Dini's party and Italian ambassador to the DPRK Paolo Bruni on
the Italian side.
Talks proceeded in a friendly atmosphere.
Joint statement signed between DPRK and Italian governments
Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- A joint statement on cooperation between
the governments of the DPRK and
the Republic of Italy in the fields of culture, art and science was signed
here today.
It was signed by foreign ministers Paek Nam Sun and Lamberto Dini.
Present on the DPRK side were Pak Tong Chun, vice-Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Song Sok Hwan,
vice-Minister of Culture, Hong Son Ok, vice-chairperson of the Korean
Committee for Cultural Relations with
Foreign Countries, and officials concerned and on the opposite side were
the party of the Italian Foreign Minister
and Paolo Bruni, Italian ambassador to the DPRK.
Joint communique on Italian Foreign Minister's visit to DPRK
Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- A joint communique on the visit of the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
Republic of Italy to the DPRK was issued here today.
The full text of the joint communique reads as follows:
Lamberto Dini, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Italy, paid an
official visit to the DPRK from March 28 to
29, 2000, at the invitation of the DPRK Foreign Minister, Paek Nam Sun.
Kim Yong Nam, President of the presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's
Assembly, met the Italian Foreign
Minister and his party.
At the meeting Foreign Minister Dini conveyed greetings to the great
leader of the DPRK Kim Jong Il from
President of the Republic of Italy Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. And he also
conveyed regards to Kim Yong Nam from the
Italian President.
He met with premier of the DPRK cabinet Hong Song Nam and leading
officials of economic and cultural
institutions and exchanged with them views on expanding and developing the
relations between the two countries.
Talks were held between the foreign ministers of the two countries.
Both sides were of the view that the establishment of diplomatic
relations between the two countries marked an
event of weighty and potential significance and reached a consensus of
views on expanding and deepening the
friendly and cooperative relations in the political, economic and cultural
fields on the principle of mutual respect,
sovereignty and equality and on the principles laid down in the UN Charter.
Both sides agreed to develop bilateral negotiations at international
organizations and through high-level and
working-level contacts.
They recognized that their stands toward the issue of reforming the
United Nations Security Council are similar
to each other.
The DPRK reiterated its support to Italy's bid to become a
non-permanent member of the UNSC for
2001-2002.
The DPRK expressed thanks to the Italian government for its
humanitarian aid, and the Italian side assured the
DPRK that it would positively examine the latter's request for its
sustained aid.
Both sides exchanged views on important issues related to the situation
in northeast Asia and the European
continent which are reflected in the UN Conventions and documents and of
international concern at present.
Both sides stressed the importance of the dialogue which has already
begun between the DPRK and EU and
deemed it beneficial to continue the dialogue for developing the relations
between the two sides in a candid and
constructive spirit.
The Italian side reiterated its full support to the KEDO's plan within
the framework of the EU.
The DPRK and the republic of Italy shared the view that the division of
Korea, a source of constant tensions in
this area, should be terminated peacefully at an early date through
beneficial reunification-oriented dialogue and
negotiations between the north and south of Korea.
The meetings took place in an amicable and candid atmosphere of mutual
understanding.
During the visit a joint statement on cooperation in the fields of
culture, art and science was signed between the
two governments.
The Italian Foreign Minister expressed thanks to the DPRK government
and people for the cordial hospitality
accorded to him and invited the DPRK Foreign Minister to visit Italy in
near future.
The invitation was accepted with pleasure.
It was decided to fix the date of the Italian visit of the DPRK Foreign
Minister through a diplomatic channel in
the future.
Reception given for Italian guests
Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
DPRK gave a reception yesterday in
honor of Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini and his party on a visit to
Korea.
DPRK Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun said in his speech at the reception
that the Korean visit of Lamberto
Dini would be an important occasion of further deepening the bonds of
friendship between the peoples of the DPRK
and Italy and expanding and developing the bilateral relations in various
fields such as politics, economy and
culture.
The two countries have maintained good friendly relations,
understanding and cooperating with each other, and
the establishment of diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level between
them marked an important event which
opened a new chapter in the development of the bilateral relations, he noted.
He stressed that the DPRK would actively strive in the future, too, to
comprehensively deepen and develop the
friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries in keeping
with the new requirements of the changing
situation.
Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini said in his speech that their
visit to the DPRK meant the start of practical
dialogue between the two countries and the talks to be held between the two
sides during their stay would offer a
good occasion of deepening the bilateral understanding of a series of issues.
Expressing his view that there is the possibility for the two countries
to develop cooperation in various fields,
he said Italy was ready to continue humanitarian aid to the DPRK.
The reception was followed by an art performance.
DPRK and Namibian Foreign ministers exchange greetings
Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- DPRK Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun sent a
message of greetings to his
Namibian counterpart Theo-ben Gurirab on the occasion of the 10th
anniversary of Namibian independence and the
10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the
two countries.
The message noted with pleasure that the friendly and cooperative
relations between the two countries have
steadily developed on good terms and said that the DPRK would make
energetic efforts to expand and develop the
bilateral relations in the common interest of the two peoples in the
future, too.
Theo-ben Gurirab in a message of greetings sent to Paek Nam Sun on the
occasion of the 10th anniversary of
the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries
expressed the belief that the friendly cooperation
between the two countries would grow stronger and develop in all fields,
especially, in the fields of socio-economic
development and technical cooperation by their concerted efforts.
KCNA warns S. Korean warmongers not to act rashly
Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- Jo Song Thae, "Minister of Defense" of
South Korea, in an interview with a
newspaper on Sunday threatened that the "combined forces of South Korea and
the U.S. would strongly retaliate
against" what he called "provocation" from North Korea, according to a
radio report from Seoul.
The military confrontation on the Korean peninsula is so tense that it
may lead to a dangerous crisis.
This is attributable to the South Korean warmongers' war moves which
have become more pronounced since
the navy command of the Korean People's Army declared the most justifiable
and reasonable "order of navigating to
and from five islands" as a follow-up measure related to the fixing of the
Military Demarcation Line at the West Sea
of Korea on March 23. They are now amassing unprecedentedly huge armed
forces in the waters, crying "they
cannot accept the order but will take a strong counter-measure against it."
The very provocative statement made by Jo Song Thae against this
backdrop is little different from an
emergency combat order issued to the South Korean army and declaration of a
war against the north.
It is the DPRK's firm will and determination to react to the "call for
a strong retaliation" with crushing blows.
The South Korean warmongers are well advised to stop their rash acts,
mindful that their war against the north
will lead them to self-destruction.
U.S. urged to compensate for loss of electricity in DPRK
Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- The recent talks held in New York between
the DPRK and the U.S. focused
on the issue of paying compensation to the DPRK for the loss of electricity
owing to the delayed construction of
light water reactors (LWRS) which should be provided to the DPRK under the
DPRK-U.S. agreed framework.
In this regard Rodong Sinmun today in a signed commentary says it is
the core point of the agreed framework
adopted in 1994 that the U.S. is committed to provide LWRS to the DPRK by
2003 in return for its freezing of the
nuclear power facilities. This should be implemented as a measure for
simultaneous action, the commentary notes,
and goes on:
But the LWR project, one of the U.S. commitments, is delayed and
expected to be completed in 2007 or later.
This is entirely attributable to the U.S. wrongdoings for which it is to blame.
Now that it has become clear the lwr project will not be completed by
2003, the U.S. Has to choose between
two options: To complete the LWR by 2003 as it promised in the U.S.
president's message of assurance or take a
step to compensate for the loss of electricity.
If the issue of compensation for the loss of electricity is not
settled, the DPRK will be left with no option but to
restart the nuclear power industry of its own style.
Whether the U.S. compensates for the loss of electricity or not is
vital to the implementation of the DPRK-U.S.
agreed framework.
The DPRK will not remain a passive onlooker if the U.S. fails to take
any measure for compensation for the
loss of electricity caused by the delay of the LWR construction.
Japan urged to properly approach inter-governmental talks
Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- There is a growing tendency in Japan to
misinterpret the pending issues
between the DPRK and Japan and lead their discussion in a wrong direction,
while "people's feelings" and
"domestic opposition" are loudmouthed as regards the inter-governmental
full-dress talks between the DPRK and
Japan slated to take place soon.
In this regard Rodong Sinmun today in a signed article says:
The core of the pending issues between the DPRK and Japan is the
latter's sincere apology and compensation
for the spiritual, moral, physical and material losses inflicted upon the
Korean people by the Japanese and the
monstrous crimes committed by them during their occupation of Korea.
Solution of other issues is unthinkable without the settlement of this
issue.
The issue of Japan's atonement for the crimes committed against the
Korean people in the past remains
unsettled.
This can not be construed otherwise than an abnormal thing from the
viewpoint of historicism, principles and
requirements of the international laws and the reality today when it has
become an international trend to redress
criminal past, the article says, and goes on:
Japan's redress of its past is a key to untying the historical knot
between the DPRK and Japan and improving
relations between them. It is not the stand for the improvement of
relations to sidestep this issue.
The talks should not be subject to coercion or assertion of one side.
They can succeed only when their partners
share understanding and views on the pending issues and stand for settling
them.
The soon-to-be resumed talks should not take the same course as covered
by the past talks.
If the talks are to succeed, they should take up the pending issues as
the topic of discussion and other issues
which are nothing in common with them.
It is obvious that success or failure of the talks depends on Japan's
attitude and stand on the talks. Japan is well
advised to bear this in mind and approach the talks from the stand to push
them and settle the issues.
S. Korean trade unions to launch wide-spread spring struggle
Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- The South Korean Confederation of Trade
Unions (KCTU) on March 27
decided to launch a spring struggle against the present "government" and
undertake its activities in real earnest
including a mammoth rally, from April 1, according to a South Korean news
report.
The organization defined may general strike as a campaign for
condemning the Kim Dae Jung regime and
announced that it would go on a strike from next month for the people's
right to existence.
To this end, it decided to hold "mass rally 2000" with attendance of
workers, peasants and students from 10
regions including Seoul, Taegu and Pusan on April 1 and set three goals of
their struggle: "Struggle against
neo-liberalism," "defence of people's right to existence" and "protest to
Kim Dae Jung 'government'."
An official of the KCTU clarified that they would consider the struggle
against the "general election" and the
spring struggle as a tribunal set up by the workers and people against the
Kim Dae Jung regime and inform them of
the anti-social policies pursued by the present regime such as the
neo-liberal politics, corruption and irregularities
and call a may 31 general strike on this basis.
KCNA warns Japan of militarization and fascistization
Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- On March 25 the Japan Defence Agency and
National Police Agency
reexamined the agreement on the share of role between the "Self-Defence
Forces" (SDF) and the police in case of the
mobilization for public security, and shared the view that the "SDF", which
has so far played a supportive role as far
as the counter-measure against "armed guerrillas of North Korea" is
concerned, will bear the brunt of the operation
against them, according to a report of Yomiuri Shimbun on March 26.
This once again lays bare the bellicose nature of the Japanese
reactionaries who have become ever more
undisguised in their hostile policy towards the DPRK.
Their latest move to revise the agreement under the pretext of "armed
guerrilla infiltration" from the DPRK in a
bid to use the "SDF" as a main force for the maintenance of internal
"security" suggests that Japan is rushing
headlong towards its militarization and fascistization.
The history of the Japanese imperialists' aggression in the 20th
century eloquently proves that if the
peace-loving people of the world including the Asian people overlook the
Japanese reactionaries' moves for war and
militarization and fascistization, humankind will meet again tragic disasters.
Check of Japan's preaching of militarism called for
Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- a Japanese history book titled "history
of the people" recently published by
Sankei Shimbun is aimed at training Japanese as fanatic fascists and
militarists and using them as cannon fodder for
overseas aggression in future.
Rodong Sinmun today says this in a signed article.
It goes on:
The book does not deal with a complete history of Japan from its
ancient history to its modern history. It is like
a collection of papers which deal with relevant historical facts under 34
sub-titles.
It preaches ultranationalism, tampering with its history.
It openly advertise the strength-is-all-powerful logic and
dominationism based on the jungle law.
The strength-is-all-powerful logic and dominationism assert, among
other things, that Japan's aggression and
colonial rule in the past were required by the laws of history.
The book describes Toyotomi's invasion of Korea in the 16th century as
a "dispatch of forces", not aggression,
asserts that it was prompted by its "plan to build a world state" and
justifies it with the nonsensical words of Japan's
"expression of awareness of modern times."
It was an intolerable criminal act that Japan ceaselessly invaded Korea
in the past and finally occupied it by a
brigandish method.
Japan's imprudent assertion that it committed crimes to meet the
requirements of the law of history is just like a
homicidal robber insisting that what he has done was required by the law
governing the human survival.
This logic and dominationism also advocate that there is no need for
Japan to feel guilty about its past crimes but
approach everything from a stand of the strong.
The book says one must neither feel guilty about what happened in the
past as an inevitable requirement of
history nor apologize for it but remain calm. This means that the monstrous
crimes committed by the Japanese in the
past were necessitated by the law of history and accordingly, Japan is not
to blame for them and there is no need for
it to apologize for them.
The Japanese militarists make a subjective interpretation of all
aspects of the history of Japan in their favour,
arguing that the objective history is nothing but illusion and history is
not a science but made by words. However,
this is a day dream. History is not decided by the bellicose outcries of
the militarists but exists as a stark objective
reality and develops along its own track.
Preparatory committees formed abroad
Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- The Jordanian preparatory committee and
the joint preparatory committee of
Yugoslav political parties and organizations were formed in Amman and
Belgrade on March 15 and 22 respectively
to commemorate Sun's Day, the birth anniversary of the President Kim Il Sung.
Mustafa Jaber, chairman of the Jordanian National Committee for the
Study of the Juche Idea, and Stevan
Mirkovic, chairman of the "Josip Broz Tito Center" of Yugoslavia, were
elected chairmen of the preparatory
committees at the inaugural meetings.
The meetings decided to organize multifarious commemoration events.
The presidium of the central committee of the Communist Party of
Tajikistan on March 22 adopted a resolution
on forming a preparatory committee for commemorating Sun's Day.
Lebanese youth Juche idea study group formed
Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- The Lebanese Youth Group for the Study of
the Juche Idea was formed in
Beirut on Feb. 14.
Samir Diyab, general coordinator of the Democratic Youth Union of
Lebanon, at the inaugural meeting said that
the immortal Juche idea which was founded by the President Kim Il Sung and
has been developed and enriched by
the great leader Kim Jong Il is a great guiding idea in the present era
which indicates the way of struggle not only for
the Lebanese people but for the progressive people the world over.
He said that the basic aim of the group was to study the great Juche
idea and learn from the Korean people's
spirit and the experience gained by them through their heroic struggle,
guided by the idea, so as to contribute to
accomplishing the just cause of the Lebanese people.
He was elected chairman of the group at the meeting.
A letter to Kim Jong Il was adopted there.
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