Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

On October 18, National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong Il attended the performance of the revolutionary opera, "The Bloody Sea," at the Mansudae Assembly Hall on the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the Bloody Sea Opera Company. He was accompanied by Jo Myung Rok, Director of the Korean People's Army General Political Bureau, Kim Il Chul, Minister of the People's Armed Forces, and party secretary Jeon Byung Ho.

On October 15, the Rodong Sinmun reported, "Kim Jong Il has been providing field guidance to 560 military units from July 1994 (after the demise of Kim Il Sung) to the end of 2000," and propagandized that "the military-first policy (pursued by Kim Jong Il) is the sword that guarantees the victory of socialism."

On October 19, a Social Science Institute spokesperson released a statement condemning the Tokyo District Prosecutor's Office and the Metropolitan Police Department for "the October 5 house searches and seizures of seven North Korean research institutes including Juche Ideology International Research Institute and Japan Research Institute of Kimilsungism."

On October 20, the Minju Josun printed an article titled "Shameless Ambition for Domination," slamming the U.S. for "going on about a military vacuum on the Korean peninsula and introducing military equipment to realize its ambition to dominate the peninsula by military means."

On October 18, the Korean Central Broadcasting Station reported, "Tensions are escalating in the U.S. as a result of Taliban leader Omar's rejection of demands to hand over Bin Laden, and Bin Laden's warning of suicide bombers in retaliation of the U.S. attackss."

On October 18, the Korean Central Broadcasting Station argued in its commentary, "the ten days of attacks on Afghanistan has led to the deaths of many peace-loving civilians. The U.S. attack must not create a vicious circle of terrorist attacks and retaliation."

On October 18, Kim Ryung Seong, the chief of the North Korean delegation to senior-level inter-Korean talks, sent a phone message to his South Korean counterpart Hong Soon Young on the hosting of government talks: "We propose holding government talks to discuss ways of promoting the Mt. Kumkang tour on October 19, as well as the second round of the North-South Economic Cooperation Committee meeting on November 5, and the sixth senior-level inter-Korean talks on October 28 as scheduled, all on Mt. Kumkang."

On October 21, a spokesperson for the Central Committee of the North Korean Red Cross Society released a statement urging South Korea to "take actions to relax the tense mood it has created in the country, as we had noted in our October 18 phone message, to enable the reunion of separated families."