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Weekly on North Korea (No. 744)

ROK Ministry of Unification

1. Internal Affairs

o Kim Jeong-il, Chairman of the National Defense Commission, recently inspected six army units, including units 4394, 205 and 3407 (May 29-June 2, Central Broadcasting Station).

- Kim also provided field guidance in the construction of Wonsan Youth Power Plant (May 27, Central Broadcasting Station).

o On the occasion of World No-Tobacco Day (May 31), a ceremony was held at the Koryo Medicine Institute on May 30 and was attended by Kim Chang-shik, Minister of Public Health (presenter), workers from the public health sector, the North Korean representative to WHO, and others (May 30, Pyongyang Broadcasting Station and others).

o In a government ordinance (May 30) of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly, North Korea announced the dividing of the Ministry of Metal and Machine-Building Industries into the Ministry of Metal Industry and the Ministry of Machine-Building Industries (May 31, Central Broadcasting Station).

o On the occasion of the 55 th anniversary of International Children’s Day, a friendly gathering of Korean children and women from Pyongyang and foreign children and women was held on June 1 at the Mangyeongdae Fun Fair, which was attended by Vice Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly Yang Hyeong-seop and others (June 2, Central Broadcasting Station).

o The “Pyeongjin Joint Venture Bicycle Plant,” a joint venture between North Korea and China, is under construction in Seosan-dong, Pyongyang and is expected to be completed on October 10 of this year (May 13, KOTRA).

o The Meteorological Observatory reported that it is guaranteeing accuracy and promptness in weather forecasting by using data from artificial satellites (May 30, Joseon Shinbo).

o Over 3 million North Koreans including soldiers, laborers, office workers, youths and students devoted all their energies to rice-transplanting for one day on May 29 to support farming activities (May 31, Central Broadcasting Station).

• As of May 31, rice-transplanting performance across the nation has reached 59.4%, 1.2 times last year’s figure (June 3, Central Broadcasting Station).

2. Inter-Korean Relations

o In accordance with the agreement reached at the Vice-Ministerial Level Talks, South and North Korea held working-level contacts in Gaeseong on May 24, 27, and 28 on the issue of dispatching a delegation to the Grand Festival for National Reunification to mark the 5 th anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration, and agreed on the size of the delegation as well as the festival schedule.

o In a press conference, the spokesperson for the DPRK’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland blasted the United States, charging that the US, as part of a conspiracy with South Korean military authorities, are attempting to launch pre-emptive nuclear strikes on North Korea and destroy the Grand Festival through the infiltration of a massive number of stealth aircraft (June 1, Joseon Central News Agency, and others).

 

 

 

3. External Affairs

o A delegation of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, led by Somsavath Lengsavath, the deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of the Lao government, visited North Korea and held talks with Kim Yeong-nam, chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, and Foreign Minister Baek Nam-soon (May 28, Central Broadcasting Station and others).

o In a press conference, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that North Korea will not forgive the slanderous charges made by US Vice President Dick Cheney against Chairman Kim Jeong-il (June 2, Central Broadcasting Station).

o In a press conference, the spokesperson for the Panmunjeom Mission of the Korean People’s Army denounced the US administration with regard to the US announcement that it would suspend joint efforts to recover the remains of US soldiers, charging that “this is based on maneuvers to stifle North Korea” and that “the US is manipulating even humanitarian projects for political and military purposes” (June 2, Pyongyang Broadcasting Service).

o North Korea and China held the 44 th meeting of the DPRK-China Border River Transport Cooperative Committee and signed a related agreement (May 30, Central Broadcasting Station).

o In a government ordinance of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly (May 27), Kim Bong-hee was appointed the North Korean Ambassador to Senegal (June 2, Central Broadcasting Station).