Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Kim Jong Il made an inspection visit to the Kyenam Stock Farm in Southern Hwanghae province on June 17 and stressed the importance of a scientific management system with regard to the operation of the farm. On the following day, he visited the electric power plant operated by the military unit 567 of the Korean People's Army (KPA). On June 20, during his inspection visit to the military unit 763 of the KPA, he ordered the servicemen to strengthen their combat capabilities.

A central "report session" was held on June 18 at the April 25 House of Culture to commemorate the 39th anniversary of initiation of Kim Jong Il's activities in the Workers' Party of Korea. The session was attended by Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), and Cho Myong Rok, director of political affairs of the KPA.

In a commentary entitled "The UN Should Not be Used in a Campaign to Apply Nuclear Pressure on the DPRK," Rodong Shinmun argued on June 20 that "by bringing the nuclear issue to the UN, the U.S. is attempting to legitimize the imposition of nuclear threat against the DPRK and to justify the initiation of another war on the Korean Peninsula" and "we will respond to such attempts with formidable emergency measures."  

The Foreign Ministry spokesperson, in a statement issued on June 18, claimed that "the U.S. government's proposal on multilateral talks aims at camouflaging its true intentions of isolating and stifling the DPRK, not at peacefully resolving the nuclear issue" and "we have no expectations whatsoever regarding the U.S. proposal on multilateral talks."   

Rodong Shinmun, in a commentary issued on June 21, criticized Japan by stating that "Japan's Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe's remarks regarding the need to seek a resolution to the nuclear issue by having a dialogue with and, at the same time, imposing pressures against Pyongyang is a reflection of Tokyo's policy of following Washington's lead in maintaining a hostile policy against the DPRK" and "we will respond to Japan's policy with ultra hard line measures."

The Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland issued information bulletin no. 841 on June 20 claiming that "'the Reception, Staging, Onward Movement, and Integration (RSOI)' exercises carried out by the South Korea-occupying U.S. troops and the South Korean troops are aimed at mounting a preemptive military strike against the DPRK" and "the DPRK will be left with no option but to strongly counter such attempts with prompt physical retaliatory measures."

On June 18, Rodong Shinmun stressed that "the South Korean Defense Ministry's decision to purchase ultra modern military hardware such as patriot missiles and to increase the national defense budget for the next year is clearly a treacherous act of yielding to the pressure put by the U.S. vis-a-vis South Korea to support its war campaign against the DPRK."