Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Kim Jong-il visited workers at the Taehungdan Commune and Samjiyon County in Yanggang Province along with Party Secretary Kim Yong-soon and First Deputy Director Chang Sung-taek, and emphasized the importance of increasing production of potatoes and construction of mid-size power plants.

Yang Hyung-sup and other high-ranking members of the North Korean government and party paid homage to the statue of Kim Il-sung and the Keumsusan mausoleum on Aug. 15 to commemorate the fifty-fourth anniversary of Korean independence, and a Worker's Daily editorial urged absolute loyalty to Kim Il-sung and vowed that `North Korea will utilize policies of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il for the successful achievement of unification.'

A spokesperson for the North's foreign ministry blamed non-resolution at the fourth round of the US-North Korea talks at Geneva on `unjust attitudes' on the part of American negotiators, and the Worker's Daily expressed support for China's missile test on Aug. 2, calling the test `a sovereign right.'

North Korea hosted the Tenth Annual Pan-National Assembly from Aug 13-16, and urged unification under the confederal system, withdrawal of the USFK, and abolition of the National Security Law, as well as legalization of the outlawed Pan-National League and the Korean Federation of Student Unions at the Pan-National Conference on Aug. 15.

The soccer team from the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions presented flowers to the statue of Kim Il-sung on Aug. 10, and participated in the opening ceremonies of the Pan-National Assembly. They proceeded with their match against the team from the Worker's League, and then formed a mixed-member team for their second match. KCTU head Lee Kap-yong thanked Kim Jong-il for his leadership at the Worker's Assembly in their welcome on Aug. 11 in Pyongyang.

The spokesperson for the Committee for the Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland criticized the ROK's `Ulchi Focus' military exercise as `preparation for a northward invasion.'