Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Kim Jong Il Provides Field Guidance to New Cultural, Sports and Service Facilities

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK via Korea News Service (KNS)

   Pyongyang, March 3 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, provided field guidance to the new cultural, sports and service facilities in Samjiyon town. The first leg of his field guidance was the Samjiyon Children's Palace that has sprung up in the town.
    The palace with a total floor space of over 7,700 square meters has various rooms for hobby groups, a theatre with hundreds of seating capacity, and a gymnasium capable of hosting various sports events.
    He learned in detail about the construction and operation of the magnificent modern palace, going round the outside and inside of it.
    He underscored the need to furnish the palace better and operate it effectively so as to conduct a purposeful education of children as it is an important educational centre greatly instrumental in bringing them up as pillars of the country with a wide range of knowledge, noble morality and strong physique. He indicated tasks to be undertaken by the palace and ways to do so.
    The second leg of his visit was the new Samjiyon County House of Culture. The house has been designed well and constructed on the best level of quality so that it may host art performances and all other artistic activities, he noted, highly praising the builders for having successfully completed the vast construction project in a matter of less than one year by devoting all their wisdom and energies.
    He called for operating the house on a regular basis to satisfy the daily growing cultural requirements of people, very pleased to be informed that since the inauguration of the house it has hosted diverse cultural events to fully provide working people with cultural and emotional life. The third leg of his visit was the new Sports Village in Mt. Paektu area. The village covering a vast area at the foot of Pegae Hill is a modern winter sporting complex. It has an outdoor ice rink, a skiing ground, an ice hockey gymnasium and other sporting grounds, lodging quarters for players and cultural and service facilities. He mounted an observation platform and commanded a bird's-eye view of the large skating ground capable of hosting diverse skating games, skiing courses extending from the top of Pegae Hill and the ski jumping hill, lodging quarters and cultural and service facilities standing in line in the forest. He learned in detail about the construction of the village and its facilities.
    Expressing his great satisfaction over the fact that the village was designed in a bid way and has all facilities for sporting activities and living to the convenience of players, he highly praised the builders for having successfully built such modern sports village. Even a single house should be built to meet the need of the new century so that it may be handed down to posterity, he said, adding that to this end it is necessary to construct all structures on the highest level as befitting the era of the Workers' Party of Korea. Learning about how the National Skating Championships for Paektusan Cup are going on at the Outdoor Ice Rink, he praised the skaters for displaying strong enthusiasm to exalt the honor of the country. Physical culture and sports should be popularized to get all our youths and children fully ready for labour and national defence, he said.
    Then he visited the newly-built Pegaebong Noodle Shop.
    The shop is good in architectural style and it has been built on the highest level, he said, highly praising the builders for having provided one more excellent present for the people.
    All activities should be geared to faithfully serve the working people as our country is a people-centered socialist society where they have become its master, he said, underlining the importance to pay primary attention to the service for them. Then he commanded a bird's-eye view of Samjiyon town whose appearance has changed beyond recognition.
    Looking at the picturesque scenery presented by the cultural and service facilities of peculiar shapes, dwelling houses, a park peculiar to an alp and buildings of unique architectural style standing in the forest of Mt. Paektu, he was very pleased with the fact that Samjiyon has undergone a great change in a few years. Noting that there are in the area of Mt. Paektu including Samjiyon County many revolutionary battle sites, important centres for the education in the revolutionary traditions, he said that to spruce up the area is a honorable work for firmly defending the revolutionary traditions, an eternal asset of the revolution, and carrying forward and developing them.
    As a large number of people make study tours of the area, a grand open-air museum, it is necessary to provide better cultural and welfare facilities for them and continue pushing ahead with the necessary construction, he said.
    He also said that in order to spruce up the revolutionary battle sites in a peculiar style, it is important to work out a town design in a far-sighted way and build all structures to suit the specific features of the area.
    He stressed the need to pay deep attention to the renovation and maintenance of the existing monumental edifices so as to add beauty to the appearance of wonderfully-built Samjiyon town and, at the same time, bring about a steady qualitative improvement in the service and management activities.
    He was accompanied by First Vice Department Director Ri Jae Il and Vice Department Director Hwang Pyong So of the WPK Central Committee.