1.InternalAffairs
1. Internal Affairs
o Chairman Kim Jong-il, accompanied by chief of the general staff
Kim Young-chun and generals Li Myeong-su, Hyeon Cheol-hae, and Pak Jae-gyeong, visited a detachment under the military unit 3882.
- As of August 13, Kim's military-related activities numbered 37, accounting for 66 percent of his 56 public activities so far this year.
o North Korea described its socialism as "people's self-reliant socialism" that embodied its regime's Juche (self-reliance) ideology. It made the description in a report on the subject of "socialism of the northern half of the republic."
o North Korea recently encouraged its people to grow cash crops like hemp, castor-oil plants, cotton and rapes which can be used as industrial raw materials.
o North Korea reported that relics of historical cultural value were recently unearthed in Gaeseong and Pyongyang's Seungho and Mangyeongdae areas.
- It emphasized that the nation's legacy was not confined to literary works and arts but an important political issue associated with the nation's self-reliant line.
o North Korea was pushing for the creation of a modern farm on the Geumseong Tideland (total area of 3,300 Jeongbo. One Jeongbo equals to 9,900 square meters. The tidal embankment is 16 kilometers long) in Oncheon County, South Pyeong-an Province.
2. Relations with South Korea
o North Korea condemned the United States and the South Korean military for bringing the situation of the Korean peninsula to the brink of war. The denounement came in the form of statements issued by the Committee for the Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland and the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, commenting on Operations Plan 5027-04 and Eulchi Focus Lens exercise in the South.
o North Korea denounced the South Korean authorities for having followed through with an additional dispatch of troops to Iraq despite strong protests at home and abroad. The denunciation came in a statement by the spokesman of the Committee for the Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland and a commentary carried by the Rodong Sinmun.
3. External Affairs
o In an interview August 7, the spokesman of the North Korean foreign ministry denounced the United States for trying to conduct combined anti-North Korean marine exercises related to PSI (Proliferation Security Initiative) in the Tokyo Bay in October by egging Japan on.
o North Korea's trade with China stood at $520 million in the first half of this year, up 37 percent from a year earlier. Exports to and imports from China amounted to $170 million and $340 million, respectively, showing increase rates of 59.5 percent and 28 percent.
o North Korea reported briefly that the 28th Olympic Games will be held in the Greek capital of Athens August 13-29.
o A foreign ministry delegation led by vice foreign minister Kim Young-il toured three Asian countries of Laos, Cambodia and Mongolia July 19-August 12.
o North Korea reported that Hwang Young-hwan has been named ambassador to Nepal.
