1. Domestic Affairs
o Chairman Kim Jong-Il visited and delivered field guidance to the
Integrated Branch Stock Farm at the Namsan Co-op Farm in Kusong City (July 18)
and the Sakju Foodstuff Factory in North Pyongan Province (July 19).
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Among those accompanying Kim were the secretaries of the Korea Worker's Party
Central Committee, Kim Kuk-Thae, Kim Ki-Nam and Ri Yong-Chul.
o On July 15, Central
Broadcasting Station reported on the government decision to further extend the
Arirang performances.
- Following its June 23 report of the government's
decision to extend the period of the performances to mid-July, Central
Broadcasting Station made a subsequent report that the performances were being
extended further without specifying the dates.
o The second May 21st Architectural Festival was
held at the People's Palace of Culture from July 15 to July 17, bringing
together architects, technicians, teachers and researchers in the fields of
architectural design and science from across the country.
- The festival
program included a national symposium on architectural construction, exhibitions
of architectural designs and a national exhibition on the modernization of
architectural construction and design.
o The second National
Exhibition of Calligraphic Works for the Jiwon Cup was held on July 10 at the
Pyongyang International Hall of Culture to commemorate the 108th anniversary of the birth of
Kim Jong-Il's grandfather Kim Hyung-Jik (July 18).
o Central Broadcasting Station
reported on the initiatives to alleviate the power shortage, including the
construction of the Chusang No. 1 Power Station in Hamju County (July 14,
Central Broadcasting Station) and some 50 small and medium-sized power plants in
Jagang Province (July 18, Central Broadcasting Station).
o A series of projects to
build additional housing for discharged servicemen were launched to ease a
housing shortage.
- A construction project to build houses for 500
households of discharged soldiers near the July 6 Railway Plant in the South
Hamkyung Province (July 13, Pyongyang Broadcasting Station); a Military-First
Village project to build housing for discharged military officers and honored
servicemen (injured soldiers) in Shinsang Zone in Hamju County, South Hamkyung
Province (July 14, Central Broadcasting Station); construction of about 2,260
blocks of 2,840 houses in the North Pyongan Province alone during the first half
of 2002 (July 18, Central Broadcasting Station). 2. South Korean Relations
o
On July 14 Central Broadcasting Station reported on
anti-American sentiment in the South including the flare-up of rallies among
various social groups to condemn the fatal crash of an armored vehicle of the
United States Armed Forces into South Korean schoolgirls.
o A commentary in the Rodong
Sinmun, the newspaper of the Korea Worker's Party, slammed the new South Korean
Defense Minister Lee Jun for his remarks on the Yellow Sea clash during his
inauguration speech. (Pyongyang Broadcasting Station reported July 17)
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The commentary said that "right-wing conservatives including the Grand National
Party are taking advantage of the Yellow Sea clash to create a drama promoting
confrontations against the DPRK, and exhorting the government to characterize
the DPRK as the South's principal enemy. (Pyongyang Broadcasting Station, July
19)
3. External affairs
o President of the Supreme People's Assembly Presidium Kim Yong-Nam
continued with his diplomatic activities in Libya and Syria after a visit to
Indonesia. (Central Broadcasting Station, July 14-19)
- Kim signed an
Agreement on Investment Promotion and Protection, an Agreement on Scientific and
Technological Cooperation, an Execution Plan for the 2002-2004 Information and
Cultural Agreement with Libya (July 16) and an Agreement on Scientific and
Technological Cooperation with Syria. (July 18)
o A
Russian delegation of technicians arrived in North Korea to check the facilities
of the Pyongyang Coal-Fired Plant. (Chosun Sinbo, July 12) o According to Pyongyang Broadcasting
Station, a delegation from the International Liaison Department of the Central
Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, a delegation from the Chinese National
Newspaper Supervisors' Association, a KEDO delegation, and the Secretary General
of the Juche (self-reliance) Ideology Research Center in Europe visited North
Korea (July 16)
o According to Central
Broadcasting Station, a decree of the Supreme People's Assembly Presidium named
Chun Jae-Hong, the current Ambassador to Thailand, as the new Ambassador to
Australia. (July 19) o North Korean media including Central Broadcasting Station
intensely denounced the Rimpac training exercise, a U.S-led joint military
training exercise of eight Pacific-Rim countries including Japan and South Korea
held from June 25 to July 23. (July 15) |
