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Major Weekly Developments in North Korea (Apr. 4 - Apr. 10, 2005)

ROK National Intelligence Service

Inside North Korea

The Central Broadcasting Station reported (April 6, April 8), “Kim Jeong-il, accompanied by generals Lee Myeong-su and Hyeon Cheol-hae of the North Korean People’s Army (KPA), inspected the KPA Guard Unit 487 and the KPA Combined Unit 837 (date unreported). Kim also enjoyed a performance by the Presidential Orchestra of the Russian Federation, accompanied by Park Bong-ju, the Cabinet Prime Minister, and Kim Yeong-chun, the Chief of the General Staff of the People’s Army (April 7).


The Central Broadcasting Station reported (April 8), “The meeting of the Central Committee celebrating the 12th anniversary of the election of Kim Jeong-il as chairman of the DPRK National Defense Commission (April 9, 1993) was held on April 8 at the April 25 House of Culture. It was attended by party, military, and government senior officials including Kim Yeong-nam, Cho Myeong-rok and Kim Yeong-chun (delivered the report).


The Central Broadcasting Station reported (April 10), “The 23rd April Spring Friendship Art Festival was held (April 10) at the April 25 House of Culture, and was attended by Yang Hyeong-seop, the Vice-President of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People’s Assembly, Chung Ha-cheol, the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea and Choi Ik-gyu, the Minister of Culture who is also the Chairman of the Festival Organizing Committee, as well as cultural delegation from foreign countries.

Outside North Korea

The Pyongyang Broadcasting Service lashed out (April 5) at the “2004-2005 Report on US Efforts for Human Rights and Democracy” made public by the US Department of State, charging, “The continued clamor about the human rights offensives by the US against us [DPRK] is a pretext to conceal its ambitions to overturn the North Korean regime.”


The Central Broadcasting Station reported (April 6), “Kang Seok-ju, the First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, paid a working-level visit to the People’s Republic of China at the invitation of Dai Bingguo, Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, from April 2 to April 5. In talks with State Councilor Tang Jizsuan and Executive Vice Minister Dai Bingguo, both sides exchanged in-depth views on the bilateral relations of friendship as well as other international issues of mutual concern including the nuclear issue.


With regard to the official approval granted by the Japanese Ministry of Education for Japan’s history textbooks, the Central Broadcasting Station criticized (April 7), “They are textbooks designed to foster mental indoctrination of militarism aimed at infusing the new generation of Japan with the ambition for re-invasion by glorifying its past history of aggression as well as distorting and concealing its grave crimes against humanity.”

Inter-Korean Issues

On the verge of the 12th anniversary of the announcement of the “Ten Guidelines for Unity of the Korean People for Reunification of the Fatherland”, the Pyongyang Broadcasting Station propagandized (April 6), “By implementing the Ten Guidelines for Unity of the Korean People as the ideology for the people of Korea, the focus of confrontation on the Korean peninsula has shifted from the Korean people to the United States.”


Quoting the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) of the Republic of Korea, Pyongyang Broadcasting Station reported (April 9), “The forest fire that broke out in Yangyang, Gangwon province in South Korea on April 4 destroyed 150 hectares of forest.”