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North Korea Weekly (January 21-27, 2008)

ROK National Intelligence Service

【Inside North Korea】

□ On January 23, the North Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS) reported, “Authorities are planning to strengthen major railroads thanks to improvements made last year,” adding, “Authorities will modernize production bases for ties to produce much more concrete and wood sleepers than last year. They will also make more efforts to repair and upgrade production facilities for ballast to seamlessly meet demand.”

□ On January 24, the North’s Pyongyang Broadcasting Service (PBS) reported, “Medical practitioners at Kim Man Yu Hospital in Pyongyang provided their own skin for a skin transplant on a wounded soldier,” adding, “Hearing about the surgery, on the morning of the first working day of the new year, a whopping 73 doctors and nurses donated their skin without hesitation.” The PBS went on to propagandize that they were “true medical practitioners of the Songun [military-first] era.”

□ On January 24, the KCBS said, “A meeting was held at the Kum Song Youth Publishing House to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the launch of the magazine Cheongnyeon Saenghwal, or ‘Young Adults’ Lives,’ with Kim Jung Rin, secretary of the Workers' Party of [North] Korea among the attendees.” The media outlet stated, “Thanks to Kim Il-seong’s politics that emphasize young adults, Cheongnyeon Saenghwal has been able to brilliantly perform its mission and tasks to help young adults develop a firm revolutionary perspective on the leader [Kim Il-seong] and prepare themselves as the successors of the Songun [military-first] revolution.”

【Outside North Korea】

□ On January 21, North Korea’s Pyongyang Broadcasting Service (PBS) featured a commentary titled “Babble of Political Dwarfs” in which it said, “The ruling party of Japan is calling on Japan’s allies, asserting that it will reach a package deal regarding the kidnapping and nuclear issues by applying three-pronged collaborative pressure,” adding that Japan is “engaged in a childish and dilettantish game of mendicancy and solicitation,” to denounce Japan’s policy of reinforcing the ties among South Korea, the US, and Japan.

□ On January 22, the North’s Rodong Sinmun quoted US newspapers to argue, “The US government disseminated the rumor that the DPRK counterfeited notes in order to crush and defeat the Republic,” and retaliated by alleging, “The real counterfeiter of notes is the US.” The newspaper insisted, “The American media reported that the paper and inks used for the forged notes are those used only by the US Mint Bureau and the value of the fake notes circulated falls short of the cost of producing them, and that the testimonies are also unreliable.”

□ On January 23, the PBS contended, “Since US war mongers are maneuvering in all directions to prepare the environment and conditions required to help realize its ambition to conquer the world, aiming our arrows of offence at the US is of utmost importance in our struggle to oppose war and advocate peace.”

【Inter-Korean Issues】

□ On January 26, North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun published an editorial titled “The Powerful March toward Reunification Promises a Bright Future for the Nation” in which the newspaper stated, “North and South Korea, as well as all Koreans living abroad, should raise high the banner of uriminzokkiri, or ‘by our nation itself,’ to dynamically press ahead with our national reunification movement and accelerate the coming of the new dawn of reunification.” Rodong Sinmun stressed, “The unflagging pursuit of the national reunification movement is desperately called for by the June 15 reunification era.”