North Korea Weekly (December 3-9, 2007)
ROK National Intelligence Service
【Inside North Korea】
□ On December 4, the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, "A micro-membrane filter has been developed that can filter out a variety of bacteria and impurities suspended in liquid or gas with great precision.” The KCNS added, “The membrane can instantly purify water by effectively filtering out such bacteria as e. coli, Shigella, Vibrio cholerae, staphylococcus, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis from the water. It can be used to transform river water, reservoir water and other natural water into quality drinking water.”
□ On December 5, the KCNA reported, “The scope of activities of the Korean Association of Publication Exchanges is continuously expanding as the association deals with e-publications and multimedia in response to changing needs in the era of information technology.” The KCNA also said, “The association recently came out with DVDs of over 100 documentary films produced in eight languages to provide a wide range of information on different sectors of Korea to foreign audiences.”
□ On December 6, the North Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS) said, “Electric power now reaches every corner of Samjiyeon County near Mt. Baekdu to give rise to happy laughter in every home in the county.” The KCBS said, “With the change, workers from all walks of life and students on winter field trips to Samjiyeon are resting comfortably in accommodations equipped with electric heating. In addition, local plants like Samjiyon Soy and Red Pepper Paste Plant and Samjiyon Clothing Plant have come up to speed.”
【Outside North Korea】
□ On December 3, the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, “A documentary film titled The Most Hideous Crimes against Humanity in the 20th Century has been produced to reveal the historical facts of Japan’s inhumane crimes of occupying Korea using military force in the first half of the 20th century and of violating the human rights of a large number of Korean women by forcing them to serve as sex slaves.”
□ On December 3, the KCNA reported, “Our [the North Korean] government and the Cuban government inked a protocol of the 26th meeting of the Committee for Consultation on Economy and Science and Technology and a protocol of exchanges of commodities in 2008 in Havana, the capital city of Cuba, on November 29, 2007.”
□ On December 4, the North’s Rodong Sinmun featured an editorial titled “Malignant and Blatant Anti-Chongryon Maneuver” in which the newspaper alleged, “On November 28, the police authority of Tokushima Prefecture, Japan, fabricated a fraud incident as a pretence to forcefully search the prefectural headquarters of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongyron, and the house of the former chief of the prefectural headquarters, which represented fascistic violence.” The editorial also blasted Japan by claiming, “Before the world, the Japanese reactionaries are revealing Japan’s unique cruelty and immorality to rush and run to attain their criminal goals without paying any heed to laws and human rights.”
□ On December 5, the North Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS) said, “Every year, the US raises alleged North Korean human rights issues, which do not exist, and speaks of the status of democracy and human rights issues in our nation [North Korea] to create an anti-DPRK uproar regarding human rights.” The KCBS also condemned the US as an “unfair and anti-humanitarian world where African Americans are barbarously deprived of even the basic human rights every human being deserves for the sin of being black, which cannot be a sin.”
□ On December 6, the KCNA reported, “President George W. Bush of the United States of America has sent a personal letter to Comrade Kim Jeong-Il,” adding, “The letter was delivered to DPRK Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun by US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill on December 5, during Hill’s visit to the DPRK.”
□ On December 6, the KCNA quoted a spokesperson for North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ expression of gratitude: “In August this year, our nation [North Korea] suffered enormous human and physical losses throughout the country due to unprecedented heavy rains and strong winds, but international organizations like the UN, as well as many countries and groups, provided emergency aid to us so that we could recover from the damage as quickly as possible.”
【Inter-Korean Issues】
□ On December 3, North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun stated, “This year, our nation has achieved many results by powerfully pressing ahead with the battle to perform the three tasks of valuing the nation, safeguarding peace and realizing unity, which,” the newspaper emphasized, “is a natural result of our steadfastly adhering to and implementing the June 16 Joint Declaration.”
□ On December 5, the North Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS) reported, “Today, a working-level inter-Korean military meeting was held at Tongilgak Pavilion on the northern side of the Panmunjeom truce village in order to provide a military guarantee for cargo railway service between Munsan and Bongdong as agreed upon at the second North-South Korean Defence Ministers’ Meeting. Both parties adopted an agreement to provide the aforementioned guarantee.”
□ On December 6, the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, “The joint committee for North-South Korean economic cooperation convened in Seoul for its first meeting December 4th through 6th. An agreement was reached between our [North Korea’s] Vice-premier of the Cabinet Jon Sung-hun and South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister Kwon O-gyu to expand economic cooperation for balanced development of the national economy and for co-prosperity.” The KCNA also reported key points of the agreement.
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