InternalAffairs
Internal Affairs
o On the occasion of the 58th anniversary (October 10) of the founding of the Korean Workers Party (KWP), North Korea held routine commemorative events like ceremonies awarding academic state degrees and titles on October 8. Through its media outlets at all levels, it extolled what it called the achievements Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il made for the party's development and propagandized that the Workers Party was an undefeated party working under the guiding principle of military-first Juche Ideology (self-reliance).
o On the occasion of the sixth anniversary (October 8) of installing Kim Jong-il as the KWP general secretary, North Korea held a "Central Report Session" the previous day. Without presenting any new policy directions, the event reiterated praise of Kim's achievements, military-first politics and other existing political slogans and policy lines.
o North Korea staged a National Military-first Youth Vanguard Enthusiasts' Rally October 6-7, in which participants were urged to actively practice the military-first ideology by becoming a believer and enforcer of politics of the ideology. The move appeared to be an effort to emphasize their vanguard role in rendering absolute allegiance to Kim Jong-il and overcoming economic difficulties.
* One notable development was that the "60th anniversary" of the founding of the Korean Workers Party was supposed to take place after the 42nd plenary session of the Female Union's Central Committee on September 21.
o North Korea started land adjustment work for the fall season in Pyongyang, South Pyong-an Province and Nampo under a plan to improve land fertility and help solve the chronic food shortage. It is based on an idea to make use of the idle work force during the agricultural off-season.
o The Rodong Sinmun in an editorial October 4 emphasized the necessity of "Cultured Mind, Fresh Life Styles," saying poor a production environment at factories and enterprises could possibly have caused the workers' discontent. It apparently was intended to boost pride and morale for the people depressed by economic difficulties.
o North Korea looks forward to opening a new chapter in inter-Korean sports and cultural exchanges with the October 6 inauguration of the Ryugyeong Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium in Pyongyang.
Relations with South Korea
o North Korea said on October 4 that it has "the right as Koreans" to denounce any additional dispatch of South Korean troops to Iraq because it is a grave matter not confined to South Korea or South Korean-U.S. relations but directly related to the interests and honor of the entire Korean people. This point was made in a statement issued October 1 by the spokesman of the Committee for the Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland.
o North Korea denounced South Korea's Armed Forces' Day (October 1) celebrations as "political and military provocations revealing a military confrontational posture against North Korea." It argued that the parade illustrated the strengthening of self-reliant defense, emphasis on the alliance with the United States and participation of U.S. troops in Korea. The denunciation was contained in a comment in the Rodong Sinmun October 4.
o North Korea said through the Rodong Sinmun October 8 that it would be far-fetched if South Korea tried to link the spy-suspect Song Doo-yul from Germany to North Korea. The move to dissociate itself from the Song episode was intended to keep the anti-Pyongyang atmosphere in South Korea from further deterioration and was made out of fear that it could adversely affect the inter-Korean relationship.
External Affairs
o North Korea said in a statement of its foreign ministry spokesman October 7 that it would not allow Japan to sit in on any negotiations on the North Korean nuclear issue. North Korea said Tokyo was a burden on any peaceful resolution of the nuclear matter because Japan raised abductee issue.
- The spokesman also said in a statement on October 6 that the Japanese government's attempt to manhandle the pro-Pyongyang Korean residents association in Japan as a hostile foreign organization and persecute the Koreans in Japan was inhuman, a flagrant violation of international law and Fascist terrorism.
o Chosun Computer Center, a leader in the development of various software, and other North Korean organizations participated in the first China International Software and Information Service Exhibition held in Dairen September 26-30. They displayed locally developed software products and tried to collect new information.
