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North Korea Weekly (February 18-24, 2008)

ROK National Intelligence Service

【Inside North Korea】

o On February 18, the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) stressed, “The State Symphony Orchestra of the DPRK is an art troupe as valuable as a national treasure,” adding, “Even though its history is not long, the orchestra has become a superb performance group demonstrating brilliant creativity, which hints at a grand future.” The KCNA said, “In the 1970s, under the guidance of Kim Jeong-il, the orchestra created a unique style of orchestral music blending [Western music with traditional Korean music]. The orchestra also produced triple wind orchestral music that mixes Western orchestral instruments with such Korean traditional instruments as saenap (also called taepyeongso, a wind instrument) and kkwaenggwari (a percussion instrument), among others.”

o On February 19, the KCNA said, “This year, Jeongwol Daeboreum (the first full-moon day of the year),* a traditional Korean holiday, falls on February 21 in the solar calendar,” and explained the holiday by saying, “On the evening of Daeboreum, our ancestors would stand atop a high place, for example, the hill behind the village or other surrounding hills, to look to the full, round moon and solemnly wish for blessings and an abundant harvest for the new year.”* January 15 in the lunar calendar. Jeongwol means the first month of the year, while Daeboreum means the first full-moon day of the year.

o On February 20, the KCNA said, “The [North] Korean Revolution, which started with song and has progressed with song, will triumph along with the great politics of music.” The news agency continued to emphasize, “Having songs of revolution and songs of battle resonate as marching songs of victory so that the blazes of the morning twilight of a great and powerful nation may rise is the pursuit of Kim Jeong-il.”

o On February 21, North Korea’s Central TV reported, “Today is Jeongwol Daeboreum, but deplorably people could not enjoy a full moon ‘as round as a plate’ due to the uncooperative weather. However, people greeted the first full moon of the year in a variety of places yesterday (Feb. 20), like Kim Il Seong Square.” Central TV added, “Kim Il Seong Square is equipped with multiple astronomical telescopes to captivate many workers and young students.”

o On February 22, the KCNA reported, “At the invitation of our [the North Korean] Ministry of Culture and the [North] Korean Association for Art Exchanges, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra of the US will soon visit Pyongyang. During the visit, the orchestra will perform at the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre.”

【Outside North Korea】

o On February 18, the North’s Pyongyang Broadcasting Service (PBS) said, “The US Air Force (USAF) has poorly managed its nuclear weapons, giving rise to widespread criticism.” The PBS continued, “USAF investigation results have found that there were as many as 237 near-misses that could have resulted in serious accidents due to improper safety measures in handling nuclear weapons from 2001 through September last year.”

o On February 19, the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, “On the occasion of the 110th birthday of Comrade Zhou Enlai of China and the 50th anniversary of his visit to the DPRK, a banquet was thrown at the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang today.” The KCNA described the banquet by saying, “Comrade Choe Tae-bok emphasized in his speech that efforts would be made to develop and strengthen friendly, cooperative relations between North Korea and China in line with the intentions of the top leaders of the two countries. In response, Chinese Ambassador to North Korea Liu Xiaoming suggested the two countries uphold and build on the DPRK-China friendship, which is an inheritance built by revolutionists of past generations, including Kim Il-seong.”

【Inter-Korean Issues】

o On February 20, the North Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCNA) denounced, “Executing the Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercise at a time when the October 4 Declaration and six-party talks projects are underway is a criminal act of driving the Korean peninsula to the brink of war.” The KCNA went on to say, “War mongers of the US and South Korea enforcing a war exercise to infiltrate North Korea is a significant military provocation of our republic [the DPRK].”