North Korea to continue nuke programme Tuesday 30 September 2003, 10:46 Makka Time, 7:46 GMT
North Korea has said it is no longer interested in holding further negotiations with the United States and will take "practical measures" to increase its nuclear capabilities. Officials did not disclose the "practical measures", but a spokesman for the communist state's foreign ministry said if the United States tried to force North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programme without a non-aggression treaty, it would lead to war. North Korea has threatened to strengthen its nuclear weapons programme as a "deterrent" against what it calls a US plan to invade. "The DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea ) is taking practical measures to steadily beef up the nuclear deterrent force as a just self-defensive means to repel the US nuclear pre-emptive attack and ensure peace and security on the Korean Peninsula," the North Korean spokesman said. Source: http://english.aljazeera.net/Articles/News/GlobalNews/North+Korea+to+continu e+nuke+programme.htm On the thoroughfares of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, five remarkable roadside billboards are scheduled to go up later this month. In one, a young man will stare out with an expression of wonder once reserved for official posters of North Koreans gazing upon their leader, Kim Jong Il. This time, the object of awe will instead be a shiny new Fiat. The billboards are part of what is being dubbed the first corporate media blitz to hit North Korea. Pyeonghwa Motors Corporation - a South Korean company with close ties to the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church - coaxed the North Korean government this year into a major break with its communist doctrine: the launch of a capitalist marketing campaign. Pyeonghwa began assembling cars in North Korea 18 months ago using imported Fiat parts. Creating an ad campaign acceptable to North Korean officials wasn't easy, said John Kim, the company's director of general affairs. "We had to work closely with the government, and they kept on rejecting ads ... because they looked too much like we were trying to sell something." The company has already begun publishing ads in government- sponsored trade magazines showcasing the slick Whistle sedan, named after a popular North Korean song, as well as a new, roomier SUV model. Source: http://www.dawn.com/2003/09/16/int11.htm
