Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Chief of the North Korean Politburo Cho Myung-rok and Minister of Defense Kim Il-chul were in attendance at Kim Chol-ju Artillery Officers' Academy to commemorate the unveiling of the statue of Kim Chol-ju (1919-1935), the late elder Kim's younger brother.

Construction for a seagate at Kaechon and the gradient irrigation canal linking the city to Taesung reservoir in Nampo got underway amidst fanfare, with the North Korean media hailing the project as the greatest project in the history of canal construction in North Korea.

A commentary written for the Worker's Daily reiterated North Korea's hostile foreign policy stance, in response to a statement on Nov. 4 by the US Secretary of Defense that the US will not `rule out completely' the option of a first strike against North Korea, attempting to make an issue of it prior to the Berlin Talks between the US and North Korea. The Worker's Daily article stated that North Korea did not expect any good to come out of the talks as long as the US `keeps smiling up front while holding a knife behind its back', and that North Korea had no choice but to bolster its military for its defense.

Responding to reports of opening the Najin-Sunbong area to South Korean businessmen and the possibility of a Pyongyang Arts Troupe performance in Seoul in the South Korean media, North Korea stated flatly that it would not open its gates to `forces hostile to our republic'. North Korea also denied that the troupe's visit to Seoul was ever discussed by anyone.