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North Korea Weekly (July 9-15, 2007)

ROK National Intelligence Service

Inside North Korea

o On July 8, on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of Kim Il-seong’s death, North Korea’s broadcasting media reported that “commanders of the Korean People’s Army (KPA), executives of the party and the state, and people from all walks of life visited Kumsusan Memorial Palace,” but did not report whether Kim Jeong-il paid a visit.

o On July 9, the North Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS) issued a commentary titled “Songun [Military-first] Politics is the Treasured Sword with the Great Power to Safeguard the Nation” in which it obstinately maintained that “the ‘powerful and mighty war deterrence’ acquired through Kim Il-seong’s Songun politics has helped strike a balance of power on the Korean peninsula that will ensure peace.”

o On July 10, the North’s Pyongyang Broadcasting Service (PBS) reported, “The 58th plenary session of the General Federation of Trade Unions of [North] Korea (GFTUK) convened in Pyongyang to discuss the recall of members of the supervisory organs of the GFTUK Central Committee and by-elections to fill the positions.” The PBS also reported, “At the plenary session, Ryom Sun-gil was released from the position of chairman of the GFTUK Central Committee, and Kim Byong-pal was elected to replace him.”

o On July 12, the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) propagandized that North Korea had successfully resolved the issue of population concentration in urban areas, which is occurring worldwide, in a feature article titled “[North] Korea Resolves Issue of Population Urbanization” in which it stated, “The government of the [Democratic People’s] Republic [of Korea] has long ago identified unique socialistic principles of urban population arrangement and the details of how to put them in practice to create [a new] urban construction history.”

Outside North Korea

o On July 6, when a reporter from the [North] Korean Central News Agency posed a question regarding the implementation of the February 13 Agreement, a spokesperson for North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “The February 13 Agreement mandates the provision of 50,000 tons of heavy oil to our nation, and at present it is anticipated that the entire amount will arrive by early August,” and claimed, “In order to accelerate progress in the six-party talks, we are seriously considering and preparing for the early suspension of the nuclear facility when the first shipment, which is about one tenth of the total amount, is made.”

o Concerning North Korea’s recent allegations that Japan “suppresses the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon)” and “serves as a hindrance to the six-party talks”:

- On July 7, North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun said, “Those Japanese reactionaries who have been persistently raising the issue of [North Korea’s] kidnappings [of Japanese citizens] to create a contrived obstacle to the six-party talks have launched a maneuver to rob Chongryon of its building in an attempt to pour cold water on the progress of the six-party talks,” and contended, “Japan is obstructing the de-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula by building an obstacle to the six-party talks.”

- On July 9, North Korea’s cabinet organ Minju Joson insisted, “Japan’s top politicians, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, are imprudently making meddlesome comments such as ‘Regarding the implementation of the February 13 Agreement, we will watch actions rather than words,’ and ‘We will adamantly demand progress in the kidnapping issue.’ The North’s cabinet newspaper also pointed out, “When the issues of a meeting among chief delegates of the six parties and a six-party foreign ministerial meeting are placed on the agenda, [Japan’s] dampening of the talks is part of an intentional interruption maneuver by Japan, which does not want to see the talks succeed.”

- In addition, the North Korean Central News Agency reported on July 10, “A public rally of the City of Pyongyang took place at the Central Workers’ Hall to protest and castigate Japan’s suppression of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon).”

- On July 15, the North Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS) reported, “On July 6, our [the DPRK’s] permanent representative to the United Nations sent a letter to the UN secretary general and the president of the UN General Assembly in order to ‘request the distribution of an official document of the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council to raise the alarm against nationalist exclusivism in connection with the increasingly blatant suppression of Chongryon by the Japanese authorities.’”

Inter-Korean Issues

o On July 11, a spokesperson for the [North] Korean Students Committee issued a statement condemning, “the South Korean security investigation’s arrest of the 14th chair of the [South] Korean Federation of University Student Councils for a violation of the National Security Law was unacceptable fascistic violence,” and urged that “the South Korean government immediately abolish the anti-national and anti-humanity National Security Law.” The statement was followed by a report from the Secretariat of the North Korean Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland that denounced the “arrest of the policy director of the Students’ Committee of the [South] Korean Democratic Labour Party for a violation of National Security Law” as an “act uprooting the foundation of North-South relations.”