InternalAffairs
Internal Affairs
o Chairman Kim Jong-il, accompanied by generals Li Myeong-su, Hyeon Cheol-hae and Pak Jae-gyeong, visited naval unit 155, according to North Korean broadcasting services August 29.
o North Korea has actively been participating in activities in international organizations this year, expanding exchanges and cooperation with countries of advanced technology to enhance its development in science and technology.
o On the occasion of the 13th anniversary (August 28) of its Youth Day, North Korea held various commemorative events and emphasized the role of youths as the vanguard in the "military-first" era.
o North Korea adopted a "code of real estate" concerning the Gaeseong Industrial Complex by a decision of the Supreme People's Assembly presidium July 29, according to its Central News Agency August 25.
o North Korea propagandized the recent production of an oversized, 20-scene screen painting (2.2 meters by 30 meters) featuring the 216 peaks around Cheonji Lake on top of Mt. Baekdu.
o North Korea reported that an irrigation project covering a distance of 273 kilometers between Baekma and Cheolsan that started on March 5, was 73 percent finished as of mid-August.
o North Korea held the fifth national program competition in the educational sector in Pyongyang August 19-24.
o North Korea said a ceremony marking the start of operation of the completed Rohyeon Military-Civilian Hydroelectric Power Station in Hyangsan County, North Pyong-an Province, was held on August 20.
o On the occasion of the 13th anniversary of its Youth Day, North Korea held an exhibition of national youth science technology performance in Pyongyang's Three Revolution Exhibition Hall August 25-September 5.
o The 18th International Pyongyang Table Tennis Invitational Games that started August 26 at Table Tennis Court in Pyongyang's Youth Street, closed August 30.
Relations with South Korea
o Through the statement of the spokesman of the foreign ministry August 20, the statement three days later of the spokesman of the Committee for the Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland, and media reports like the Rodong Sinmun August 20 and 24, North Korea denounced that the Eulchi Focus Lens Military Exercise in South Korea was an exercise for nuclear war. The statements argued that the exercise was being held for the United States, which is planning a new war to invade North Korea.
o Through a commentary carried by its Rodong Sinmun August 20, North Korea denounced the content of the August 15 news conference of the South Korean unification minister.
o Through a statement by the spokesman of the Joseon Authors'' Union, North Korea shifted the responsibility for the cancellation of the inter-Korean authors' meeting entirely on the South Korean authorities and demanded that Seoul take appropriate steps to solve the situation.
o Through the announcement of what it called a "Letter of Accusation of Real Facts about the Problems of North Korean Defectors" issued in the name of the North Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation August 20, North Korea condemned that North Korean defections to the South constituted crimes of inducement, abduction and terror committed by the South Korean government and that it was part of U.S. operations to overturn the Pyongyang regime.
External Affairs
o A North Korean delegation led by ambassador Pak Kil-yeon, chief of Pyongyang's permanent mission to the United Nations, attended the 14th ministerial meeting of Non-aligned Movement (NAM) held in Durban, South Africa, August 17-19.
o North Korea bagged four silver medals and one bronze and ranked 58th in the Athens Olympics, held August 13-29. It sent to the Greek capital a contingent of 36 athletes, vying in nine events, and 33 officials.
o North Korea denounced U.S. president George W. Bush for saying that it was important for China, Japan, South Korea and Russia to speak in one voice and that it was necessary for the five countries to appeal to the tyrant (in North Korea) to disarm. The denunciation came in the form of the spokesman of the North Korean foreign ministry granting an interview to the KCNA.
- The KCNA quoted the spokesman as saying that the remarks not only made North Korea unable to attend the international meeting on the nuclear issue, but also denied Pyongyang any reason to face the United States.
