• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Weekly on North Korea

1. Internal Affairs

o Chairman Kim Jong-il, accompanied by generals Li Myeong-su, Hyeon Cheol-hae and Pak Jae-gyeong, visited military unit 573, a recipient of the Oh Jung-heup Seventh Regiment Title, according to the Central Broadcasting Station on June 13.

o Chairman Kim Jong-il received Victor Eliseyev, lead conductor and music director of the Russian National Academy-Interior Ministry musical troupe after watching his performance on June 11, according to the Central Broadcasting Station the next day.

o North Korea has made much progress in the construction of small and medium power stations during the last ten years. This year alone, it is pushing for the construction of some 100 such stations, according to the Central Broadcasting Station on June 11.

o On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the beginning of KWP activities by chairman Kim Jong-il (June 19, 1964), North Korea held extensive events marking the occasion.

o The Plant Protection Institute under North Korea's Academy of Agricultural Science successfully developed new insecticide using microbe chemicals and raw materials that will eliminate wild millets, according to the Central Television on June 14.

o North Korea built a large dock (four times the existing capacity) at the September 10th Ship Repair Shop, a factory under the control of the Nampo Shipbuilding Yard, for the repairs of such large vessels as refrigerator ships or oil tankers, according to the Rodong Sinmun on June 7.
o North Korean broadcasting services reported on June 13 that work to assemble equipment was making rapid progress at the Heungju Chicken Processing Factory (30,000 square meters) at Ganggye City, Jagang Province.

o North Korea will hold the first International Martial Arts Competition in Pyongyang on September 15-20 following the decision of the third general meeting of the International Martial Arts Competition Committee, according to the Central Broadcasting Station on June 16.

2. Relations with South Korea

o On the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the announcement of the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration, North Korea held an inter-Korean photograph display and Buddhist services in Pyongyang and sent delegations to a "rally of the Korean people" and an international seminar held in South Korea.

- Through key organizations and the media, North Korea reviewed the level of reconciliation and cooperation achieved between the South and the North in the last four years. It also insisted that the U.S. troops in Korea should be withdrawn, emphasizing the implementation of the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration as well as mutual assistance between the people of North and South Korea.

o In a Rodong Sinmun commentary, North Korea said that the real culprit attempting biological chemical warfare was the United States, and demanded that the United States pull out its forces from Korea. It denounced the United States by quoting an article carried on the June 2000 edition of the Mal (Word) magazine. The magazine allegedly carried a story indicating that a chemical weapons stockpile had been found in the ammunition depot of the United Nations Command security detachment at Panmunjom.

3. External Affairs

o North Korea has been pursuing positive cooperation with China in the economic sector as shown in a recent surge in bilateral trade and joint ventures with China.

- Two-way trade between the two countries in 2003 reached $1,230 million. China is the largest trading partner of North Korea

o In a press conference, the spokesman of North Korea's foreign ministry stressed that it was important for the United States to make a bold political decision about coexistence with North Korea, according to the (North) Korean Central News Agency on June 15. North Korea made the statement as it reported that a working-level meeting on the North Korean nuclear issue will be held on June 21-22 in Beijing, followed by the third round of six-party talks on the same topic the next day.

o Delegates from China, Canada and Russia as well as those from the International Potato Center flew into Pyongyang on June 15 to attend an international seminar on potatoes to be held there.