U.S. warhawk's trip to S. Korea

Pyongyang, April 30 (KCNA) -- The Chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff, Henry Shelton, met with South Korean warmongers in South Korea on April 28 to discuss a "proposal for jointly coping with emergency," according to Seoul-based radio No. 1. They had discussions on the strengthening of "military cooperation" and "joint defense preparedness." Shelton also appeared in a frontline area near the military demarcation line and incited a war fever. The U.S. sinister intention to render the already acute situation of the Korean peninsula all the more strained and start a war of aggression was fully revealed by his South Korea tour.


Military movement in South Korea denounced

Pyongyang, April 30 (KCNA) -- The secretariat of the committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland in information bulletin No. 760 on April 29 denounced the full-dress ill-boding military movement in South Korea to ignite another war. It is a mistake to bring us to our knees with military threat and pressure and get something, the bulletin says, and goes on: The South Korean tour of the Chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff, a confab of military bosses of the United States, Japan and South Korea for "military cooperation" in Seoul and the reinforcement of the U.S. forces in South Korea with some 300 officers and soldiers--these are a premeditated war move to unleash a new war. The ruling quarters of South Korea should act with discretion, clearly mindful of what grave consequences the war manoeuvres against the north staged by their predecessors in collusion with outsiders brought to inter-Korean relations. If the South Korean authorities truly want the improvement of inter-Korean relations and are interested in dialogue and cooperation, they should give up the policy of depending on outsiders and make a resolute decision to change the confrontation policy against the north into a pro-north reconciliation policy. We urge this once again.


Excellent paintings of Mt. Paektu

Pyongyang, April 30 (KCNA) -- The Mansudae Art Studio recently created art works reflecting the spirit of Mt. Paektu. Its artists pictured the grandiose look of the mountain after an on-site expedition. They finished some 40 excellent masterpieces in a month. They drew the landscape of the mountain in Korean painting. "Red Glow Above Lake Chon of Mt. Paektu," "Lightning Above Lake Chon of Mt. Paektu," "Thunder Above Lake Chon of Mt. Paektu," "Paekam Peak of Mt. Paektu", "Flag-Shaped Cloud Above Janggun Peak" and other works portray peaks and peculiar natural phenomena of the mountain. And "Eagle Rock on Mt. Paektu," "Twin Rainbow Falls of Mt. Paektu" and other works portraying famous spots of the mountain were created with various techniques of Korean painting. These works were created by people's artists Jong Yong Man and Kim Song Min, merited artist Ko Yong Gun and other veterans and dozens of young artists. The art works of Mt. Paektu are displayed at the Korean art gallery, drawing many visitors. General Kim Jong Il saw the art works of Mt. Paektu, a holy mountain of revolution, in February and expressed deep satisfaction with the fact that the artists of the studio created many excellent works. The studio is a general fine art base of Korea.


Korea seafood trading corporation

Pyongyang, April 30 (KCNA) -- The Korea Seafood Trading Corporation is one of the major trade businesses in the DPRK. It consists of the Korea ship chartering company and a trading company which deals with special products from fishermen's cooperatives across the country. The corporation has many overseas branches. Branches in Russia, India, Singapore and other countries catch fish in the sea of Okhotsk and the Indian Ocean and sell them on the spot. The corporation has a lot of modern fishing boats, processing ships of over 14,000 tons and freezing-transport ships at different fisheries on the east and west seas of Korea. It exports over 100 kinds of seafoods, live, raw, frozen and dried, such as pollack, cuttlefish, octopus and trout, shellfish and seaweeds. Its exports are very popular abroad because they are caught mainly in the pollution-free seas of Korea. In particular, such live products as rockfish, crab, scallop and flatfish= frozen trout and cuttlefish, dried pollack, skinned pollack, dried cuttlefish and sea cucumber and pickled pollack eggs are in great demand. The corporation trades with companies in China, Russia, Japan, southeast Asia and Europe. While exporting seafoods, the corporation carries on chartering, cargo traffic and joint venture with foreign companies.


National classic "Taedongyasung"

Pyongyang, April 30 (KCNA) -- "Taedongyasung" is the most typical of national classics of unofficial chronicles made in the long history of the Korean people. It is a collection of unofficial chronicles contained in some 50 kinds of books compiled in the 15th to 18th century period. It consists of 72 volumes of 13 books, which contain the orignial texts of 129 volumes of 50 books written by 46 persons who lived in the period. A lot of books contained in the "Taedongyasung" are collections of typical folktales which are mainly dealt with in the Korean mediaeval history of literature. The folktales written in prose are in such literary forms as humour, satire, critique, review and unofficial story. Also contained in the book are rich and detailed historial data needed for the study of all aspects of society in the first half period of the Ri dynasty, including historical materials of many exploits of the Korean people in the development of science, technique and culture, of the foreign aggressors' invasion of Korea and the struggle against it in the 16th and 17th centuries.


DPRK Foreign Ministry on unreasonable U.S. military@occupation of S. Korea

Pyongyang, April 30 (KCNA) -- The Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea published a memorandum on Wednesday concerning the unreasonable military occupation of South Korea by the United States. Citing irrefutable facts, the memorandum says that though the United States, which has kept its some 40,000 troops in South Korea for more than half a century, is trying to justify the military presence, it can never be justified. The document proves that the call for permanent U.S. military presence in South Korea is only too unreasonable from the technical point of view and in view of the demand of the international political developments after the end of the Cold War and the purpose of the "four-way talks." It consists of "1. U.S. troop pullout from South Korea is key to solution to the Korean issue," "2. U.S. troop pullout is unavoidable obligation in view of international law" and "3. U.S. troop pullout is urgent demand of present era." The document says in part: The U.S. troops in South Korea are the very one that divided Korea and has obstructed its reunification. They also pose threat to peace and security on the Korean peninsula. For the purpose of realising its century-old ambition for dominating Korea, the United States brought 45,000-strong two divisions to Inchon port, South Korea, on September 8, 1945, under the pretext of disarming the defeated J1panese imperialists. The U.S. forces, which occupied the areas south of 38th parallel, proclaimed the appearance of a "military government" in South Korea. They carried out a "separate election" by military force on may 10, 1948 to form a puppet regime and divided Korea. The United States started a war on June 25, 1950 to dominate the whole of Korea, but was defeated. It then brought forward a "Two Koreas" policy and fixed the division of Korea, keeping hold on a half of the country. The United States has violated and killed the Korean Armistice Agreement, turned South Korea into a gunpowder keg and ceaselessly staged military provocations and manoeuvres against the DPRK. They brought the situation of the Korean peninsula to the brink of war through the spy ship "Pueblo" incident in January 1968, the large reconnaissance plane "EC-121" incident in April 1969, the Panmunjom incident in August 1976, the helicopter incident in December 1994 and other incidents. The U.S. military presence in South Korea is unreasonable also in view of international law. It is a publicly accepted principle governing international law that after the end of war, belligerents withdraw their troops to remove hostile relations and normalize bilateral ties. After the end of the Korean War, China completely withdrew its troops from the north of Korea on its own initiative in 1958 and other countries which joined the "UN Forces" withdrew their troops from the south as demanded by the U.S. government. The United States, too, would withdraw its troops by and large after military actions in other regions. The U.S. military occupation of South Korea is a wanton violation of the armistice agreement envisaging the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the Korean peninsula. The 60th paragraph of the fourth article of the armistice agreement which was signed in July 27, 1953 stipulates that, within three months after the armistice agreement is signed, a political conference of a higher level of both sides be held to settle the questions of the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Korea, etc. But the United States concluded with the South Korean puppets a "mutual defense treaty" on August 8, 1953 for its military presence in South Korea for an indefinite period. And it declared the suspension of talks at the Geneva meeting in April 1954. The U.S. military occupation of South Korea is also contrary to UN resolution. The DPRK side-proposed resolution 3390b adopted at the 30th UN General Assembly called for the dissolution of the "UN Command" in South Korea and the withdrawal of all foreign forces. The U.S. side-proposed resolution 3390a also stipulated that the U.S. forces shall withdraw from South Korea if an alternative proposal for ensuring peace is provided. With the Cold War terminated, the U.S. military presence in South Korea can no longer be justified with the conception of the Cold War period. The United States claimed that the U.S. military presence in South Korea was conducive to "safeguarding peace" as a "deterrent to the Soviet Union's attack and the north's invasion." But now the theory cannot work. It is a strategic mistake of the United States that it is still calling for its permanent military presence in South Korea now when "relationship of strategic partnership" has been established along with the detente process accelerated since the beginning of the 1990s. It is an international trend to eliminate foreign troops and bases from other countries. In early '90s the former U.S. Administration made public a program of three-phased withdrawal of its troops from South Korea and announced that the first-phased withdrawal was carried out. The United States must not pursue the anachronistic policy of its military presence in South Korea but immediately take a step of withdrawing its troops from South Korea. Doing so is in the U.S. strategic interest.


Secretary Kim Ki Nam meets Russian newspaper delegation

Pyongyang, April 30 (KCNA) -- Secretary Kim Ki Nam of the Workers' Party of Korea Central Committee met and had a talk with the visiting delegation of the Russian paper Patriot led by editor Mikhail Zemskov at the Mansudae Assembly Hall Today. Present was Kim Jong Suk, editor-in-chief of Minju Joson.



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