Syrian President meets head of Korean government military delegation
Pyongyang, May 28 (KCNA) -- Syrian President Hafez Al Assad on May 25 met vice Marshal of the Korean People's Army Jo Myong Rok, Director of the General Political Department of the KPA who is heading the government military delegation of the DPRK.
The head of the delegation conveyed greetings and a personal letter of General Kim Jong Il to President Hafez Al Assad.
The President said that the Syrian people have highly respected the great leaders of Korea and have good feelings toward the Korean people.
We hope to keep close relations with the DPRK, he said.
Gift to Kim Jong Il from Syrian President
Pyongyang, May 28 (KCNA) - General Secretary Kim Jong Il received a gift from Syrian President Hafez Al Assad.
The President handed the gift to vice Marshal of the Korean People's Army Jo Myong Rok, Director of the General Political Department of the KPA who is heading the government military delegation of the DPRK, on May 25.
Greetings to Ethiopian Prime Minister
Pyongyang, May 28 (KCNA) -- Hong Song Nam, acting Premier of the Administration Council, sent a message of greetings to Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia.
The message extended warm congratulations to him on the occasion of the national day of the Ethiopian people. It sincerely wished him greater success in his work.
Fidel Castro Ruz meets DPRK FM
Havana, May 26 (KCNA) -- Fidel Castro Ruz, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba, met vice-Premier and Foreign Minister Kim Yong Nam on May 26.
Fidel Castro Ruz wished General Kim Jong Il good health and success in his work.
The talk proceeded in a friendly atmosphere.
Choe Thae Bok meets Chinese party delegation
Pyongyang, May 28 (KCNA) -- Choe Thae Bok, alternate member of the Political Bureau and Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, met and had a friendly talk with the visiting delegation of the Dandong city committee of the Communist Party of China led by General Secretary Guan Yong Guang at the Mansudae Assembly Hall on May 27.
Present were officials concerned and the charge d'affaires ad interim of the Chinese embassy here.
The head of the delegation said that no force can break the Sino-Korean friendship established by comrades Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai as well as President Kim Il Sung. He said he will make efforts to develop the friendly relations.
CPRF secretariat on S. Korean authorities' brutal suppression of people
Pyongyang, May 28 (KCNA) -- The secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland issued the information bulletin no. 762 on May 27 in connection with the fact that brutal suppression of patriotic students and workers continues in South Korea.
The information bulletin said:
The South Korean authorities cracked down upon the May Day rallies and demonstrating workers with the mobilisation of more than 17,000 riot policemen. Almost every day of May, they blocked rallies and demonstrations of workers and threatened that they would "severely punish" those students who took part in demos.
This is a premeditated repressive offensive to flee from the present ruling crisis caused by economic bankruptcies and contradictions and feuds within the political camp.
The struggle of workers and students is right and just in every aspect.
The present South Korean regime is now brutally suppressing workers who have been in misery after losing their jobs owing to the lay-off system and labour exchange system which were introduced under the trusteeship of the International Monetary Fund. Previously, it tried to appease them.
This clearly shows that it is not a "government for the people" but a mouthpiece of business groups.
The South Korean authorities must clearly know that with no fascist suppression can they bridge over the crisis.
S. Korean authorities must stop anti-north campaign
Pyongyang, May 28 (KCNA) -- The South Korean authorities recently made public a "result of investigation" into the long-drawn-out "north wind" case and groundlessly accused the north of having helped amplify the rumors about somebody's political tendency in a bid to keep him from winning the "presidential election."
Though they slandered the north with groundless charges during the investigation, we have refrained from manifesting our position concerning them, taking inter-Korean relations into account.
Since they connect the case directly with the north and abuse the case for their political purpose, however, we cannot but make clear our principled position.
Historically, we have maintained the stand of noninterference in "Presidential Election" in South Korea.
What we are interested in is not who becomes President but what policy the elected President pursues.
Nevertheless, the South Korean authorities alleged that the "north wind" case occured due to "anti-south operations" of the north. The allegation is another grave political plot for confrontation with the north.
They raised outcries over the north's "policy towards the south," citing a letter sent to a "Presidential candidate" by a person. But their outcries are acceptable to nobody.
Correspondence between friends is a usual practice in any country and in any society. Ensuring privacy of correspondence is a matter pertaining to the most elementary human rights.
In South Korea, however, post offices open letters of individuals and use them for an ulterior political purpose.
It is the "Agency for National Security Planning" (ANSP) that perpetrates such human rights abuses.
The "north wind" case faked up by the "ANSP" by using a letter of a person for a political purpose is another grave human rights violation which cannot be tolerated in view of international law, ethics and morality. It is also a rash act which can be done only by political swindlers.
They should make an apology to the addresser.
The fact has made clearer that the "ANSP" is the headquarters of anti-north plots and confrontation and a cancer which should be eliminated at once for the improvement of inter-Korean relations.
The South Korean authorities must not resort to anti-north plots through the "north wind" case invented by the "ANSP" but sternly punish at once former "ANSP Minister" Kwon Nyong Hae and other plot-makers who sponsored the case.
If they want to get something by connecting the case with the north, which has nothing to do with it, they are mistaken.
They must know that if they continue seeking confrontation with the north, availing themselves of the case, they will have to pay dearly for the plot.
They will be held wholly responsible for all its consequencies.
Lies of illiterate
Pyongyang, May 28 (KCNA) -- Seoul-based radio Voice of National Salvation broadcast a commentary titled "lies of illiterate" concerning Hwang Jang Yop's interview with a South Korean newspaper.
The commentary says:
Hwang, who defected to the south from the north, in an interview with a newspaper on May 19, maliciously slandered the north and spoke for the present South Korean "government" authorities.
What he, who has lived in seclusion under the protection of the "Agency for National Security Planning" (ANSP) over the past one year, said in the press interview is all lies invented by the "ANSP".
His remark proves that he is ignorant of the situation of the north. He talked about "possible collapse of the system" and "alternate force" in the north and cried for "unification of systems." It shows that he is a diehard anti-communist element and an anti-north servant of the "ANSP" who unhesitatingly said what even ultra-right
conservatives of South Korea do not dare say as regards inter-Korean relations.
Admittedly, the north's system is based on singlehearted unity of whole society around the leader. In actuality, the north is a strong country that any formidable enemy hardly dare attack and is an unconquerable society which has united closely in any adversity. It is obvious to anyone that there has never been and there can never be an "alternate force" in such a society. Even the United States, which has tried hard to stifle the north, is now admitting the solidness of its system.
But Hwang, ignoring this situation, slandered the north with lies about the non-existent "alternate force."
Though he had a political career in the north, he could never find himself in the hub of politics. While "studying" social science, he embezzled foreign currency and had an affair with an overseas Korean woman. The traitor, forsaken both in the north and the south, is now in a poor position that he should tell lies to prolong his days.
The ridiculous drama directed by the "ANSP" and played by Hwang is illustrative of the serious crisis of the present rulers.
The ruling-opposition competition for the forthcoming local autonomy election has become fiercer with the ruling camp being minority and the opposition majority. And the "ANSP," which faked up the "north wind" case, is now like a house in mourning. The economy, which already suffered an unprecedented financial crisis and is now being hit by another one, is beyond recovery and public resentment against the "government" authorities is ever growing.
On the contrary, the north has been successfully making the forced march of socialism, effecting a fresh upsurge and a great advance, undaunted by years of blockade by the imperialists and natural disasters.
The "ANSP" used Hwang in the despicable drama in the hope of preventing public sentiments from inclining toward the north and pacifying public discontent and protest.
But it boomerangs disastrously. It is well known a fact that the "ANSP," buttering up the "civilian" regime, guided Hwang's defection and has offered him a brain-washing education in Seoul to adapt him to South Korean society.
It, which disgraced itself as a faithful servant of the "civilian" dictator, has failed to draw a proper lesson and used Hwang for a political drama, currying favor with the present regime. The South Korean people will not remain a passive onlooker to the despicable behavior of the "ANSP."
If the "ANSP" continues fostering confrontation with the north by making use of Hwang, they will totally destory the headquarters of plots.
The present "government" authorities' using such a common enemy of the nation as Hwang in anti-north plots through the "ANSP" is a criminal act obstructing national reconciliation and unity.
If they want to evade such a fate as their predecessors', they should stop the despicable anti-north plots at once.
Hwang should no longer be used for the political purpose of the authorities but had better hang himself before he is stoned to cleath by our people.
Rodong Sinmun on utterances of U.S. ambassador to South Korea
Pyongyang, May 28 (KCNA) -- Rodong Sinmun today comments on recent utterances of the U.S. ambassador to South Korea that the DPRK is keeping "hostile tension" on the Korean peninsula and may launch an "unpredictable action."
Branding his rigmarole as brigandish sophism to reverse black and white, the news analyst of the paper says:
It is none other than the United States that is jeopardizing the situation of the Korean peninsula.
Above all, it is reinforcing its forces present in South Korea.
U.S. conservative hardliners openly cry that, even after the "threats to security" disappear in the Korean peninsula, they will not withdraw the U.S. Forces from South Korea and continue to provide a "military umbrella" to it. They are putting spurs to arms buildup, not military reduction.
In April, the U.S. military additionally deployed huge armed forces in South Korea and plans to increase their number till the end of the year.
The U.S. warhawks largely expanded the arms system of the U.S. Forces in South Korea with new sophisticated operational hardware allegedly to "improve operational capacity."
When he was in South Korea in April, Chairman of U.S. joint chiefs of staff Shelton toured forefront areas along the military demarcation line and discussed with brasshats of the South Korean puppet army about "proposal for jointly coping with contingency" and "proposal for increasing the U.S.-South Korea joint defence preparedness."
What is all the more serious is the fact that the "Rsoi" manoeuvres, which were held after the U.S. 8th Army, the main combat force of the U.S. troops in South Korea, was put on a war footing, coincided in time with the South Korean visit of Shelton.
War exercises in which the U.S. Forces in South Korea play a leading role are being incessantly staged.
All facts eloquently prove that the United States is the very one which is rendering the situation on the Korean peninsula strained, bringing it to the brink of war.
KCTU enters general strike, more than 120,000 involved
Pyongyang, May 28 (KCNA) -- The (south) Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) entered into a general strike in all parts of South Korea on the afternoon of May 27, a Seoul-based radio report said.
Chairman of KCTU Ri Kap Yong in a press interview at the Myongdong cathedral in Seoul that day called a strike for limited hours demanding the withdrawal of the lay-off system because negotiations with the "government" side broke down.
KCTU declared that more than 120,000 workers will participate in the strike and 125 working places under it will be involved.
The Hyundai Motor Co., ltd. trade union, known as the largest trade union of South Korea, entered into a strike from 1 p.m. Of May 27.
The trade union held a rally with the attendance of more than 15,000 unionists in front of the main building.
The puppet clique defined the general strike of KCTU as "illegal" and said that they will counter it with government power if necessary. And they have deployed
more than 25,000 police of 236 companies at spots of strike and around meeting places in Seoul and all other parts of South Korea.
DPRK delegation comes back from Colombia
Pyongyang, May 28 (KCNA) -- The DPRK delegation led by vice-Premier and Foreign Minister Kim Yong Nam came back today after attending the meeting of foreign ministers of the coordinating bureau of non-aligned countries held in Cartagena, Colombia.
It was met at the airport by first vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Sok Ju and Cuban ambassador to Korea Jose Ramon Rodriguez Varona.
Kim Yong Nam and his party also visited Cuba.