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Weekly on North Korea No. 876 (Jan. 21-Jan. 27, 2008)

ROK Ministry of Unification

Internal Affairs

* North Korea ’s Ministry of Agriculture has planned its strategy for potato farming of this year, the 60 th anniversary of the foundation of the regime, to solidify the results achieved from the revolution’s policy for potato farming over the past ten years and to accomplish the tasks presented in joint New Year’s editorial, reported the Central Broadcasting Station on Jan. 14.

*The Central Broadcasting Station reported on Jan. 22 that Chairman Kim Jung-il visited “The 18 th National Programming Contest & Exhibition,” which took place in last October.

*According to China ’s Customs Statistics on Jan. 24, North Korea ’s imports of food from China surged in December last year, which was more than four times that of the year-earlier period.

* North Korea , in an editorial titled “Socialist ideology is the life of socialism,” emphasized the importance of socialist ideology, reported the Central Broadcasting Station on Jan. 23.

Foreign Affairs

*The delegation of Ministry of Railways headed by Kim Yong-sam, the Minister of Railways, visited China from Jan. 19 to Jan. 22 to discuss cooperation between the two countries on railroads.

*Rodong Sinmun, through its commentary on Jan. 21 titled “Sleep talking of political dwarf,” harshly criticized that Japanese ruling power plotted a package settlement to deal with kidnapping issue and nuclear issue at the same time through “triangle cooperation to put pressure on North Korea.”

* North Korea , through Korean National Peace Committee and its state-run media, urged the U.S. to drop its hostile policy towards North Korea and to replace the armistice agreement with a peace treaty.

*North Korea’s state-run media including Rodong Sinmun denounced the U.S’s “two-faced human rights offensive” and “counterfeiting · fabrication of nuclear proliferation theory.”

*Chosun Sinbo reported on Jan. 23 that European Union have showed great interest in the development of economic relationship with North Korea thanks to positive changes in international politics, maintaining that plans and goals for the opening of a prosperous country in 2012 were presented in its serial titled “Q&A about Political Circumstances of the Korean Peninsula (1)—Launch of full-scale attack toward 2012: Laying the foundation for rapid progress.”

*Chosun Sinbo, through its serial titled “Q&A about Political Circumstances of the Korean Peninsula (3)—Japan’s struggle to get out of isolation,” criticized on Jan. 25 that Japan has not abandoned its hostile policy toward North Korea including consistent oppression of Jochongnyeon (the General Association of North Korean Residents in Japan).

*The spokesperson of North Korea ’s “Joseon History Society” released a statement on Jan. 25 condemning Japan for producing a precision map identifying Dokdo islands as Japan ’s territory.