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Weekly on North Korea (Dec. 23-29, 2005)

ROK Ministry of Unification

Internal Affairs

North Korea released a ‘joint New Year’s editorial’ under the name of Rodong Sinmun, the Korean People’s Army and the Youth Vanguard under the title of “Make a leap forward with great ambitions and confidence”, which revealed that North Korea would focus on pursuing the previous policies, shown in the re-designation of agriculture as a major industrial front rather than suggesting new policies.

Celebrative events including a central reporting convention on the 14 th anniversary of Kim Jong-il’s assumption as a supreme commander which was on Dec.24 in 1991, were held along with propaganda activities to publicize the legitimacy of Kim Jong-il’s accession to the supreme commander, according to the editorial of Rodong Sinmun on December 25.

Chairman Kim Jong-il inspected the army unit 2651 and 953 large combined unit, gave on-site guidance to factories for pork and freezer for meat and watched the performance by the merited choir of the Korean People’s Army.

North Korea evaluated last year of 2005 as the year of achieving wealth and prosperity with Seongun (military-first)’s ideology and belief, and reaching an evolutionary turning point in agricultural production.

Inter-Korean Affairs

A spokesperson for the DPRK’s committee for the peaceful unification of the fatherland on December 24 criticized the remarks by South Korean Minister of Defense. And a spokesperson for the National Front, through his statement on December 25, condemned the remarks by South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Concerning the passing of the bill on dispatching armies in Iraq by the South Korean Congress , North Korea criticized the South Korean authorities and instigated anti-American and antiwar struggles.

Foreign Affairs

North Korea announced that bilateral talks on normalization of diplomatic relations would be reconvened as a result of bilateral negotiations between North Korea and Japan .

Vice Premier No Du-cheol, paid a visit to China from December 24 to 27 and had talks with Tang Jiaxuan and Wen Jiabao. He also discussed the issues related to North Korean-Sino economic cooperation, including signing an accord on joint development of crude oil in the seas of North Korea and China .