Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Kim Jong Il, accompanied by the Korean Workers' Party secretaries, Kim Ki Nam and Kim Yong Sun, visited Anbul Temple and inspected the Geumya River Power Station construction site and the Geumya Military Resources Base (date unknown). On April 15, he inspected a paper tissue manufacturing factory operated by army veterans and attended a performance by the Korean People's Army Merited Choir. He also made an inspection and on-site guidance visit to the May 20 Daeseong Factory and Hamheung Brick Factory (date unknown).

On April 14, North Korea hosted a central "report session" at the April 25 House of Culture to commemorate the "Day of the Sun," the birthday of the late Kim Il Sung (April 15). In the presence of Kim Yong Nam, Hong Song Nam, Kim Il Chol and other senior officials of the party, state and army, participants in the session pledged their "absolute allegiance to Kim Jong Il."

The Democratic National United Front Broadcasting, a malicious anti-South propaganda media outlet, claimed that "the unfair passage by the U.S.-controlled United Nations Human Rights Commission of the resolution addressing the human rights situation in the DPRK is an unacceptable act of criminal behavior."

Foreign news agencies reported that the 59th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission adopted a resolution submitted by the European Union to censure Pyongyang for its human rights abuses. According to the reports, the resolution was passed by 28 votes in favor to 18 votes against, with 14 abstentions. South Korea did not participate in the vote.

During a press conference on April 18 regarding the scheduled three-way meeting in Beijing between the DPRK, the U.S. and China, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry responded to a question posed by a reporter from the Korean Central News Agency by commenting that "China's role in the talks will be to provide a venue for the talks and the essential issues regarding the nuclear problem will be discussed by the DPRK and the U.S." The spokesperson added that North Korea is "currently in the last stages of reprocessing the 8,000 spent fuel rods" -- a key step in producing nuclear weapons.

On April 18, Pyongyang Broadcasting Station reported "the head of the United Nations weapons inspection team to Iraq recently disclosed in a press conference that the basic goal of the U.S. and U.K. military campaign in Iraq was the removal of the regime, not dismantling weapons of mass destruction."    

Foreign news agencies reported on April 17 that "the North Korean Red Cross Society sent a telephone message to its South Korean counterpart this morning, requesting that the South Korean Red Cross send rice and fertilizer to the North."   

Pyongyang Broadcasting Station reported on April 19 that "the chief delegate of the North Korean delegation to the North-South ministerial-level talks sent a telephone message to his counterpart in Seoul, via Panmunjom, suggesting that the 10th round of North-South ministerial-level meeting be held in Pyongyang from April 27 to 29."