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North Korea Weekly (April 14-20, 2008)

ROK National Intelligence Service

【Inside North Korea】

o On April 14, North Korea’s Central TV said, “A decree on the institutionalization of orders and medals marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the republic [DPRK] has been announced.” It went on to state, “Comrade Kim Il-seong’s founding of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on September 9 in Juche year 37 (A.D. 1948) was a historic event that portrayed our citizens as an independent, powerful and revolutionary people and opened a new epoch for the construction of a socialist country focused on the masses.” The media outlet reported, “In this vein, the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly has instituted special orders and medals to forever remember the glorious path of victory our republic [the DPRK] has walked over the past 60 years.”

o On April 15, Central TV said, “Awakened to a profound sense of honorable responsibility before the party, the fatherland, the age and the revolution, [our] scientists and engineers have achieved the feat of helping develop programming technology in leaps and bounds with a burning passion and creative talent in recent years.” It went on to say, “[Our] Dear General, who was very appreciative of the research outcomes of the scientists and engineers who developed advanced programs in January this year and also even glorified them by taking commemorative pictures , has bestowed terrific gifts upon them once again.”

o On April 15, Central TV said, “On the occasion of the Day of the Sun, executives of the party and the state, as well as high officials of such central agencies as ministries, state bodies, and workers’ groups paid a visit to Kumsusan Memorial Palace.” The media outlet added, “Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where Comrade Kim Il-Seong, the Great Leader, exists as an everlasting being, is immersed in a an atmosphere of solemnity.”

o On April 17, Central TV said, “Officials and residents within the Daeseong Zone are actively pressing ahead with a spring land management project,” adding, “They set a practical spring land management plan and have made rapid progress in deepening Daeseong stream and building a stone wall. They also planted thousands of trees of good species around the Gosan multi-level crossing.”

【Outside North Korea】

o On April 16, the North Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS) said, “Amid high expectations and interest among the Chinese people, the Sea of Blood Opera Company opened a run of The Flower Girl in the Opera Hall of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China, on April 15.” The KCBS propagandized, “The first performance was attended by Liu Yunshan, a member of the Political Bureau and of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China; Wang Jiarui, head of the International Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China; and numerous citizens. The audience was enchanted by the profound theme, the performers’ sophisticated acting, the beautiful melodies and the unique stage effects.”

o On April 17, the North’s Rodong Sinmun alleged, “US warmongers are gabbling that we [North Korea] continue to develop ballistic missiles and export missiles, causing the US’s serious concerns.” The newspaper denounced, “The US is the nation that produces the most missiles and has the largest store of nuclear weapons in the world, and it is also the US that uses missiles to launch pre-emptive strikes on other countries. The US speaks of our [North Korea’s] missile threat and recommends that South Korea participate in the US’s efforts to build a missile defense system. It is a sophistic argument that stems from the US’s black-hearted intention to invent a pretext to launch a military attack on us [North Korea.]”

【Inter-Korean Issues】

o On April 14, North Korea’s Pyongyang Broadcasting Service (PBS) aired a commentary in which it contended, “Our [North Korea’s] consistent goal is to achieve independent unification, peace and prosperity uriminzokkiri (by our nation itself) based on the June 15 Joint Declaration and the October 4 Declaration.” The PBS claimed, “[However,] by contrast, [South Korea] has put forth a policy of Pragmatism, Denuclearization, Opening and 3,000 [which involves South Korea helping North Korea reach a per-capita income of 3,000 USD in exchange for the North abandoning its nuclear ambitions] as well as a policy of putting South Korea-US relations first. It has also uttered, without hesitation, provocative and violent remarks denouncing our [the North Korean] political system and that encourage confrontation.” The media outlet lashed out, “These are the laughable, reckless acts of those who still cannot face up to the graveness of reality, and who justify their antinational stance and seek any possible way to survive.”

o On April 16, North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun said, “The South Korean government’s sycophantic pro-US identity is fully revealed through its policies.” The newspaper contended, “[The South Korean government] is churning out vain assertions that even the North Korean nuclear issue can be resolved through collaboration with the US alone and frantically making an anti-republic [DPRK] nuclear fuss.” Rodong Sinmun lashed out [at the South Korean government], “It is also decidedly flattering Japan, referring to a ‘mature relationship’ and a ‘future-oriented relationship’ with Japan’s extraordinary crimes in its past covered up.”