Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Kim Jong-il's inspection of his military continued with a visit to KPA Guards Unit 776 with Chief of the KPA Politburo Cho Myung-rok and JCS Chairman Kim Young-choon, followed by a visit to an aquaculture farm and new housing in Yong-yon, South Hwanghae province, with Worker's Party secretary Kim Yong-soon.

The Korea Central Broadcasting in North Korea urged `ideological rearmament' for its population against what it called an `Imperialist attempt to create false fantasies about imperialism disguised as calls for partnership and aid'.

The spokesperson for North Korea's foreign ministry stated that there are `dangers' involved in `making decisions concerning the ballistic missile issue with an administration with barely a year left in office', given `the GOP's calls for hardline policies against North Korea' at a news conference with members of its press. It also blasted Japanese proposals for elimination of nuclear weapons at the UN General Assembly as `maneuvering for massive nuclear armament'.

North Korea mobilized its press and media for coverage of a `People's Assembly' of 20000 persons from fifty South Korean dissident groups including the Federation of Korean Student Unions, Confederation of Korean Trade Unions, and Federation of Korean Farmers' Unions, reporting that its members fought `pitched battles' with the police and that Seoul resembled `a battle zone', and urged the demonstrating South Korean workers to `fight to the finish' until `all matters come to a conclusion'.