Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

North Korea Weekly (March 2 - 8, 2009)

ROK National Intelligence Service

[Inside North Korea]

o On March 7, North Korea held a central reporting rally on the occasion of the 99th International Women’s Day (March 8) in the presence of Yang Hyeong-seop (vice president of the Supreme People’s Assembly Presidium), Kim Jung-rin (secretary of the Workers’ Party), female representatives, and others.

o On March 8, North Korea conducted an election for delegates of the 12th Supreme People’s Assembly.

- According to a report by the Korean Central News Agency (dated March 8), “All registered voters participated in the vote as of 18:00, March 8 in all constituencies around the nation, except voters working abroad.”

[Outside North Korea]

o On March 4, North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency lashed out at Japan, saying that "Recently, Japan designated and announced Takeshima Day and held a series of celebratory events despite internal and external protest, as if the Dokdo islets were Japanese territory.”

[Inter-Korean Issues]

o On March 4, the Rodong Sinmun argued, "South Korea and the US must keep in mind that our (North Korea’s) military responses will be resolute and ruthless actions that cannot be measured by any state-of-the-art methods, and they should immediately stop their reckless and provocative military maneuvers.”

- In addition, it threatened, "If archenemies invade even 0.001mm of our (North Korean) territory, our military and people will use their full potential and wage retaliatory strikes as much as one hundred or one thousand times greater.”

o On March 5, a spokesperson for North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland declared, "Since it is uncertain whether any kind of military clash might break out during the Key Resolve drill, we cannot guarantee the aviation safety of South Korean civilian aircraft passing our airspace and its surroundings, especially our territorial air above the East Sea during the military exercise.”