Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

North Korea sponsored a series of mass rallies to display the North Korean people's support for its withdrawal from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).  The rallies were held in various places throughout the nation: Southern Pyongan Province on January 13; Yangkangdo, Union of Agricultural Working People, and Korean Democratic Women's Union in Southern Hwanghae Province on January 15; and Nampo City in Southern Hamkyung Province on January 17.

Accompanied by generals Lee Myung-Su and Hyun Chol-Hae, Kim Jong-Il inspected Air Force Unit 860 of the Korean People's Armed Forces on January 17 and instructed the servicemen to strengthen their combat capabilities. On the following day, Kim Jong-Il, accompanied by the secretaries of the North Korean Labor Party Kim Kook-Tae and Kim Ki-Nam and other related officials, gave on-site instructions and guidance during a field inspection of the Land Readjustment Projects in Anju City, Kaechon City and other cities in Southern Pyongan Province.

   The North Korean Foreign Ministry criticized the U.S. in its press conference on January 15 by groundless accusations that "the remarks made by U.S. officials that the U.S. will have discussions with North Korea regarding sending energy and food supplies to the North if Pyongyang relinquishes its plans to develop nuclear weapons is not very different from its former claim that the U.S. would have a dialogue with the North only after Pyongyang scraps its nuclear program" and that "all this talk about dialogue is nothing but a deceptive scheme designed by the U.S. to mislead world public opinion vis-a-vis North Korea."

A spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry condemned Japan in a statement released on January 16 in which the Foreign Ministry stressed that "Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's January 14 visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals are entombed, is a clear display of the fact that he justifies the past crimes and acts of aggression committed by Japan against other Asian nations."

The Democratic National United Front Broadcasting, a malicious anti-South propaganda media outlet, made baseless accusations on January 13 stating that "the Grand National Party (GNP)'s calls to the South Korean people to stop the 'candle-light processions' are a desperate attempt by the GNP to prolong what's left of its hold on political power by currying favor with the U.S." and that "the party should be dismantled."

Pyongyang Broadcasting Station, on January 19, called on the young people of South Korea to participate in anti-American campaigns by propagandizing that "it is incumbent upon the young people of South Korea to pave the way for a new morning of reunification by deterring the U.S. imperialists' attempts to wreak nuclear havoc on the Korean Peninsula and by enlarging the anti-U.S. movement."