Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Kim Jong Il received Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov on July 5 during the minister's visit to the DPRK. On the occasion of the 10^th anniversary of the demise of President Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il also made a visit to the Kumsusan Memorial Palace on July 8, accompanied by director of the KPA General Political Department Jo Myong Rok, and attended the national memorial meeting. (July 5 & 8, Central Broadcasting Station).

The Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly announced that Choe Ryong Su was discharged from his position as Minister of the People's Security, and Ju Sang Song was appointed as the new minister (July 10, Central Broadcasting Station).

Rodong Sinmun insisted on July 7 that "in the recent six-way talks, the U.S. proposed a 'three-month preparatory period for dismantling nuclear programs', which they had also proposed to a Middle Eastern nation last year for its disarmament. However, as it can never work in the DPRK, the U.S. should withdraw its demand that Pyongyang first abandon its nuclear program and abandon any other approach they had taken with other nations." (July 7, Pyongyang Broadcasting Service)

The Central Broadcasting Station claimed on July 11, "While the Japanese Self-Defense Forces strengthen their military alliance with the U.S. to renew their readiness for wars of aggression, the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces have recently dispatched senior officers to the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command in order to seek military integration of the Japanese Self Defense Forces and U.S. forces."

A spokesperson for the Committee for National Reconciliation issued a statement denouncing South Korean authorities for not permitting its private delegation's planned visit to Pyongyang to attend the memorial meeting on the occasion of the 10^th anniversary of the demise of Kim Il Sung. The spokesperson said, "In so doing, Seoul committed an unpardonable crime by hampering the reconciliation process and fuelling confrontation between the North and the South." (July 9, Pyongyang Broadcasting Service)

Rodong Sinmun said in its editorial titled "Make Your Views Clear," "The Grand National Party of South Korea recently made senseless and anachronistic remarks in the National Assembly, insisting that unification must be realized based on a free democratic system. These remarks constitute unbearable challenges and provocation against the DPRK." (July 10, Pyongyang Broadcasting Service)

North Korea's "Korean Association for the Study of Human Rights" denounced the right-wing conservative forces in South Korea, including the Grand National Party, for protesting the decision made by the South Korean "Presidential Truth Commission on Suspicious Deaths" that former unconverted long-term prisoners of South Korea contributed to the South's democracy movement. The association went on to claim that those unconverted long-term prisoners are the very victims who most acutely suffered from human rights violations in the 20th century. (July 10, Central Broadcasting Station)