Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

North Korea Weekly (March 9 - 15, 2009)

ROK National Intelligence Service

[Inside North Korea]

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

- Reportedly, 99.98% of eligible voters participated in the vote and cast their votes 100% in favor of the registered candidates.

o On March 11, Kim Doo-nam, a general of the People’s Armed Forces and a member of the Workers Party Central Committee, passed away at the age of 77.

[Outside North Korea]

o On March 10, North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) briefly reported, "Cabinet Prime Minister Kim Young-il will soon make an official goodwill visit to China at the invitation of Wen Jiabao, China’s premier of the State Council."

o On March 12, KCNA reported, "The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea joined the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (Outer Space Treaty) and the Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space (Registration Convention)."

[Inter-Korean Issues]

o On March 14, the Secretariat of North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland contended, "If interested in inter-Korean dialogue, South Korea must apologize to all Koreans for its criminal destruction of inter-Korean relations by means of its confrontational maneuvers and immediately cease all activities antagonizing us (North Korea).”