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North Korea Weekly (May 5-11, 2008)

ROK National Intelligence Service

【Inside North Korea】

o On May 5, the North Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS) said, “The Veterinary Quarantine Office under the Ministry of Agriculture is pursuing a veterinary quarantine project in order to prevent avian flu from spreading into our country [North Korea] as the disease could potentially have a great impact on the people and the economy of a country.” The KCBS added, “Watch posts have been installed along the east and west coasts, where migrant birds stop over, in order to closely monitor their movement.”

o On May 6, the North’s Pyongyang Broadcasting Service (PBS) said, “Officials of the DPRK Academy of Sciences and party organizations in charge of focus sectors for the people’s economy are engaged in an impassioned ideological education project to powerfully encourage and compel scientists and engineers to contribute to the building of an economic power through science and technology.” The PBS reported, “Officials responsible for ideological education at the Institute of Control Machinery, the Institute of Integrated Circuits, the Institute of Mathematics, the Institute of Electronic Materials, and the Institute of Microorganisms are skilfully performing their duties as though fighting at the frontlines of a war to bring a passion for science and technology to every workplace.”

o On May 7, the KCBS said, “A meeting to mark the 50th anniversary of Pyongyang’s film and broadcasting orchestra took place at the Pyongyang International Cinema House on May 6,” and added, “Thanks to the wise leadership and attentive care of the party and the leader over the 50 years since its creation, the orchestra has grown to become a seasoned art creation group that is embraced by the people, and achieved great feats in the development of music for film and broadcast.”

o On May 9, North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun said, “Water is a crucial strategic resource that is essential to human survival and civilization,” deploring that “presently, only 1% of the world’s water is available to people as a resource, and Africa and West Asia suffer extreme water shortages.” The newspaper reckoned, “The factors behind these water shortages are rapid population growth and severe water contamination.”

【Outside North Korea】

o On May 6, the North Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS) reported, “Comrade Kim Yong-nam, President of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, met with Chinese Ambassador to North Korea Liu Xiaoming at Mansudae Assembly Hall on May 5 and engaged in a friendly conversation.” The KCBS went on, “Chinese Ambassador to North Korea Liu Xiaoming extended his gratitude to the DPRK party, government and people for their sincere support for the Pyongyang torch relay event for the 29th Olympic Games, and said that the recent torch relay event further solidified the friendship between the peoples of the two countries.”

o On May 7, the KCBS said, “The prices of hulled rice, wheat and corn, which are staples in many countries, have been soaring, thereby sparking great concern.” The KCBS also reported, “The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations announced that worldwide food prices jumped by 20% in the first quarter of this year as compared to the same period of the previous year. As regards the main culprits behind rising food prices, foreign reports point to decreasing agricultural production due to frequent natural disasters, the consumption of enormous quantities of grains for the production of biofuels, and export embargoes by grain exporting countries.”

【Inter-Korean Issues】

o On May 5, the North Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS) said, “According to South Korean broadcast reports on May 2, over 20 fighters, including F-16 fighters belonging to the US Air Force that is forcefully occupying South Korea and F-15K fighters of the puppet air force, dared to execute a joint exercise at the 8th Fighter Wing of the Gunsan Air Base of the invading US army.” The KCBS alleged, “The three-day military drill referred to as Ssangmae, or ‘Buddy Wing Exercise’ in English, focused on war exercises on the premise of invading the North, including training in fighting tactics for air warfare and air-to-surface attacks on targets on the ground.”