1.InternalAffairs
1. Internal Affairs
o Chairman Kim Jong-il conducted an on-site guidance for an agricultural project by visiting a high-yield grains fair, according to the Central Broadcasting Station September 19.
o On the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the death of Kim Jung-sook, North Korea held a ''pledge of allegiance'' meeting at the Daeseongsan Revolutionary Martyrs Tomb in the presence of Pak Sun-hi, chairwoman of the Joseon Women's Union and other events, according to the Central Broadcasting Station September 21.
- The broadcasting service said a daily average of more than 1,000 people attended the Hoeryeong Revolutionary Site in North Hamgyeong Province, where Kim Jung-sook was born, adding that the total number of people visiting the site came to 1.8 million in the last five years.
o North Korea saw an active promotion of international exchange in science and technology in September by making exchange visits of science and technology delegations and concluding relevant protocols with China, Germany, Britain and international organizations.
- As of September this year, North Korea has been carrying out 15 out of 27 (or 56 percent) external science and technology exchange and cooperation projects.
o The Rodong Sinmun said on September 19 that North Korea defined the current period as the "military-first era," and that the emphasis-on-youth is brilliantly carried out under the military-first banner.
o The Pyongyang Broadcasting Station reported September 20 that Song Ho-gyeong, vice chairman of the Joseon Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, died after a long illness at the age of 63 on September 19.
o After opening September 12, the ninth Pyongyang Film Festival ended and Kim Jeong-ho, chairman of the General Federation of Joseon Literature and Arts Unions, delivered the closing remarks, according to broadcasting services September 20.
2. Relations with South Korea
o In connection with South Korea's ''nuclear material experiments,'' North Korea said through a commentary of its Rodong Sinmun that Pyongyang would closely watch if the United States would correct a "double standard on nuclear issue" and the hostile policy toward the North, adding that it would determine its course of action accordingly. It said it would never renounce its nuclear program so long as the situation is not rectified.
3. External Affairs
o The spokesman of the North Korean foreign ministry denounced the United States for designating North Korea as a violator of religious freedom in the U.S. State Department's 2004 Report on International Religious Freedom, released on September 15.
- The North Korean Central News Agency said three days later that the annual report was a ploy to discredit North Korea's external image and isolate and seal off Pyongyang internationally.
o Reminding the date September 17 as the second anniversary of the historic North Korea-Japan Pyongyang Declaration, North Korea released a commemorative commentary featuring the rationale for the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
-In the commentary, North Korea said the core clause of the Pyongyang Declaration was the liquidation of Japan's past and that the liquidation was a prerequisite for and a key to the improvement of bilateral relations.
o North Korea and Cuba held the 23rd Consultation Committee Meeting on the Economy, Science and Technology in Pyongyang on September 20 and concluded a protocol concerning the meeting itself, a protocol on the exchange of goods in 2005 and a protocol on price setting and principles for 2004-2008.
o A North Korean delegation of the state maritime inspection bureau, led by bureau director Jeong Yoon-min, left Pyongyang on September 21 to tour Thailand, Singapore, Pakistan and Cyprus, according to the KCNA and the Pyongyang Broadcasting Station.
