1. Domestic Affairs
Chairman Kim Jong-il visited the Naval Command on May Day,
accompanied by vice marshals, Korea People's Army generals and secretaries of
the Workers' Party.
An official ceremony to celebrate May Day was held at
Kusong Machine Tool Plant in Kusong, North Pyongan Province. Yang Hyong-sop,
Vice-President of the presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, Kim Jung-rin,
Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, and Kwak Pom-gi,
Vice-Premier of the cabinet, attended the ceremony.
The curtain was raised for a mass gymnastics display
entitled Arirang at the May Day Stadium on April 29. North Koreans and foreign
guests from 20 countries, including China, Russia, Japan and the United States,
watched the performance, Central Broadcasting Station reported on April 30.
Arirang had been performed twice at the stadium to celebrate the 90th birthday
of the late leader Kim Il-sung on April 14 and anniversary of the foundation of
Korea People's Army on April 26.
The presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly issued a
decree, naming Sin Il-nam, Vice Minister of the People's Security April 29 as
Vice Premier and Chairman of the Capital Construction Committee of the cabinet.
The fourth Pyongyang Medical and Science Seminar was held
at the People's Palace of Culture from April 29 to 30.
Sports Festival for
Mangyongdae Cup ended at a Pyongyang basketball gymnasium, April 30.
2. South Korean Relations
From April 28 to May 3, South Koreans reunited with
their North Korean relatives for the fourth time since the historic inter-Korean
summit of June 2000. The first group of 99 South Koreans arrived by ship at Mt.
Geumgang to reunite with their 183 North Korean relatives whom they have not
seen since Korean War from April 28 to 30. One hundred North Koreans reunited
with their 466 South Korean relatives for three days from May 1 to 3.
The Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the
Fatherland issued a statement, denouncing South Korean Foreign Minister for his
remark on North Korea that he made on his visit to the United States and
demanding his apology, Central Broadcasting Station reported April 29. The
statement prompted similar criticism from Rodong Sinmun, newspaper of the
Workers' Party, and the National Democratic Front of Korea.
The 30th anniversary of the publication of the late
leader Kim Il-sung's work on the "Three Principles of the National Unification"
was commemorated in Pyongyang, May 3.
3. External affairs
A spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry
denied an April 29 Reuters report that North Korea had invited former U.S.
President Clinton to visit Pyongyang to play a role in mediation with the United
States and to cool rhetoric from Washington, Pyongyang Broadcasting Station said
May 2.
North Korea and Japan agreed in their Red Cross
conference held in Beijing from April 29 to 30 on four provisions, investigate
of Japanese allegedly including kidnapped by North Korean spies that North
Korean spies kidnapped Japanese people.
Ministers of nonaligned countries supported the
agreements of the Inter-Korean Summit of June 15, 2000, in their meeting in
Durban, South Africa, from April 27 to 29, Central and Pyongyang broadcasting
stations reported on May 3. |
