1.InternalAffairs
1. Internal Affairs
o Chairman Kim Jong-il, accompanied by generals Li Myeong-su, Hyeon Cheol-hae and Pak Jae-gyeong, visited military unit 363 and then recruits/trainees under military unit 833, according to the Central Broadcasting Station September 4-5.
o On the eve of the 56th anniversary of the founding of its regime (September 9), North Korea held a central report session in the presence of senior leaders from the party, military, and administration at the April 25 House of Culture.
o A ''wholesale team'' has been set up and operating in Pyongyang's Tong-il Market since April to help control prices, according to the newspaper Joseon Sinbo September 7.
o Book distributors in Pyongyang held the 10th national competition for book promotion September 2-5. Content of "Kim Jong-il Rage" and other books were analyzed and advertised.
o On the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the Joseon Association of Amateur Anglers, North Korea held a fishing competition September 6 in the Daedong River, where some 50 anglers chosen from cities, counties and central agencies, participated in.
o North Korea recently issued six commemorative postage stamps featuring chairman Kim jong-il engaged in public activities, the 28th Athens Olympics and the centennial of the birth of the late Chinese leader Deng Xiao Ping.
o North Korea is trying to establish a "Center for the Preservation of Goguryeo Mural Tumuli," which will have four functional areas of academic research, preservation techniques, education of experts and external promotional campaign on Goguryeo mural tumuli, according to the Joseon Sinbo August 19.
2. Relations with South Korea
o North Korea said that South Korean authorities must repeal the National Security Law if they wanted the resumption of inter-Korean dialogue. It made the demand through a statement issued September 4 by the spokesman of its Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, which said that the law was a vicious one that hampers with the implementation of the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration and that the repeal of the law was a prevailing tide of the times.
o North Korea urged South Korean authorities to reject "U.S. interference" in the construction of Gaeseong Industrial Complex and condemned US "obstructions" in bringing equipment and materials for the construction of the complex.
3. External Affairs
o In an interview with its Central News Agency, North Korea's foreign ministry said September 5 that it was Pyongyang's consistent and steadfast position to oppose all forms of terror and any support for terrorism. It made the statement in response to recent terrors perpetrated in Russia.
o North Korea and Syria concluded the Agreement on Cooperation in Trade and Science and Technology in Damascus September 1, according to South Korea's KOTRA office based in Amman, Jordan, September 7. The two countries set up diplomatic ties in July 1966.
o North Korea asked the International Committee of the Red Cross to keep South Korea from abducting its residents, while denouncing the South Korean authorities and the United States in connection with the North Korean defections. It made the request in a letter to the ICRC August 27 in the name of the Central Committee of the North Korean Red Cross Society and the Joseon Association for Research of Human Rights in the wake of recent mass defections of its residents to South Korea.
o North Korea and the European Union held a workshop on strengthening economic reform and cooperation between the two sides at the People's Palace of Culture in Pyongyang August 31-September 4.
