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North Korea Weekly (July 21-27, 2008)

ROK National Intelligence Service

【Inside North Korea】

o On July 22, North Korea’s Pyongyang Broadcasting Service (PBS) said, “At a time when a global food crisis is driving people in many countries into starvation and deprivation, officials and workers in the agricultural economy in every part of the country are actively engaged in a battle to independently increase food production and forestall flood damage.” The PBS also reported, “The Ministry of Agriculture is designing an organizational initiative wherein responsible officials form a leadership to launch a powerful project to prevent any possible damage by heavy rains.”

o On July 23, the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, “A bust of Ri In-mo, a patriotic fighter for reunification with an unyielding spirit, has been set up on Tongil (unification) Street in Pyongyang,” and added, “The bust depicts him in a prisoner’s uniform with his two hands bound in iron shackles and is placed on a granite pedestal on which a gold medal is carved in relief.”

o On July 24, the Chosun Sinbo, or the People’s Korea, the organ of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), said, “In North Korea, the most favored place to eat on a Boknal, or one of the three dog days traditionally known to be the hottest of the year, is restaurants that serve dog meat.” It introduced famous dog-meat restaurants in downtown Pyongyang, including Pyongyang Dangogi Jip, Munheung Dangogi Jip, and Jangjin Dangogi Jip. Dangogi means “dog meat” and Jip translates literally as a house, but here it refers to a restaurant.

【Outside North Korea】

o On July 21, the North’s Pyongyang Broadcasting Service (PBS) issued a commentary titled “Drop the Comedy of Territory Expansion,” in which it lashed out at Japan by saying, “Nowadays, in the island country of Japan a very ill-intended comedy is being staged wherein the country rapaciously claims that somebody else’s land is its own. It even clearly labeled Dokdo as Japan’s territory from of old and sets forth an arrogant argument even in the guidelines for elementary and middle school teachers regarding the instruction of their students.”

o On July 23, North Korea’s cabinet organ Minju Joson published a commentary titled “Revived Madness for Missiles” in which it said, “The Japanese Ministry of Defense recently announced its plan to test-fire Patriot missiles in mid-September this year. The Patriot missiles belong to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force and are a key component of its missile defense system.” Minju Joson added, “The Japanese reactionaries test-fired sea-launched missiles using an Aegis destroyer loaded with SM-3 interceptors off the coast of Hawaii in December last year, and based on the experience, Japan is spurring the deployment of missiles for actual warfare.”

o On July 25, the North’s Rodong Sinmun said, “Japan, a war criminal as a nation, obstinately refuses to admit to its past crimes and persistently avoids rectification thereof.” The newspaper contended, “In particular, the issue of sex slaves for Japanese soldiers not only calls for the Japanese government to take direct responsibility for its resolution, but also requires legal indemnification.”

【Inter-Korean Issues】

o On July 24, the North Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS) reported, “Regarding South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee’s remark that North Korea is a main enemy of South Korea, the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland (CPRF) maintained that the remark indicates that the South Korean government is relentlessly repudiating the June 15 Joint Declaration and the October 4 Declaration and this is an unforgivable provocation of us [North Korea].”