Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

A joint meeting of the government, political parties and organizations of the DPRK took place at the People's Palace of Culture on March 18. Attended by such dignitaries as Yang Hyong Sop, vice-President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, the meeting was a forum in which the participants discussed immediate measures to protect the DPRK¡¯s sovereignty and peace through national cooperation. A document entitled ¡°Appeal to the 70 million Koreans¡± was adopted in which incendiary calls were made to all the Korean people to participate in the anti-U.S. struggles.

At 11:38 PM, March 20, the Korean Central News Agency gave a belated report on outbreak of the Iraqi war, reporting that ¡°the U.S. initiated a military attack against Iraq at the dawn of March 20¡± and ¡°in his war address broadcasted on TV, the U.S. President George W. Bush officially declared that, in accordance with his orders, the U.S.-led coalition forces had begun striking targets in Iraq.¡±

In response to the question posed by a reporter from Korean Central News Agency regarding Japan, the spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry said on March 18 that ¡°Japan¡¯s launching of a spy satellite is tantamount to hostile actions vis-à-vis the DPRK and is in a contradiction to the spirit of Pyongyang Declaration between the DPRK and Japan.¡±   

The Foreign Ministry condemned the U.S. attack against Iraq, in response to a question posed by a reporter from Korean Central News Agency during the press conference held on March 21, saying that ¡°the military attack on Iraq is a serious act of infringing on the sovereignty of a nation and no justification whatsoever may be given on such act of aggression which violates sovereignty and human rights of the Iraqi people.¡±

The spokesperson for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland criticized South Korea in its statement issued on March 21, making false claims that ¡°South Korean authorities have issued the so-called ¡®defense readiness condition 2 (DRC2)¡¯ under the pretext of enhancing vigilance during the Iraqi war, when, in fact, the DPRK has nothing to do with the Iraqi war¡± and ¡°these moves are indeed very dangerous as they are intended to ditch the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration and aggravate inter-Korean relations.¡±

The chairman of the North Korean delegation to the North-South Committee for the Promotion of Economic Cooperation issued a statement in which he announced that ¡°the second round of the meetings of the North-South Committee for the Promotion of Economic Cooperation and the third round of contacts for inter-Korean maritime cooperation is to be postponed.¡± This unilateral postponement was announced in the wake of North Korea¡¯s assertion that South Korea has declared "high alert posture" dubbed "DRC-2" against the north under the pretext of the Iraqi war. South Korea, however, has not issued ¡°DRC-2.¡±

Korean Central News Agency reported on March 22 that ¡°the joint planting of trees by the youths of North Korea and South Korea was held in Mt. Keumgang by the Red Cross¡± and ¡°with every tree planted, the participants in the event also planted their hopes of living in a unified land as one nation.¡±