Rodong Sinmun on U.S. design for permanent occupation of S. Korea

Pyongyang, July 14 (KCNA) -- A few days ago. U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen stated that the presence of the U.S. troops in South Korea would be continued even after the reunification of Korea. Commenting on his remarks, a news analyst of Rodong Sinmun today says: We cannot but take a serious view of the fact that the U.S. military chief repeated his official insistence on the U.S. troops' permanent occupation of South Korea. The planned permanent presence of the U.S.troops in South Korea is very unjustifiable both in view of international law and of the urgent requirements of the present time. Why is the United States trying to keep its troops in South Korea for an indefinite period? Its strategically design is to stifle the DPRK, the bulwark of socialism, invade Asia with the Korean Peninsula as a springboard, expand the sphere of its domination and thus realise its ambition for world supremacy. The U.S.troops in South Korea are pivotal forces for this design. They are military means which backs the U.S. Korea and Asia policies with strength. They are not a "guarantor" of "regional stability" but a root cause of instability. The United States must discard its anachronistic policy of military occupation and withdraw its troops from South Korea as early as possible.

We have nothing to do with "armed agent infiltration" -- CPRF spokesman

Pyongyang, July 14 (KCNA) -- The spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland accused the South Korean puppets of charging the north with an "armed agent's infiltration." In an interview with the KCNA today the spokesman said: They announced that a dead "armed agent" and an underwater launch were discovered on the seashore of Mukho, South Korean Kangwon Province, on July 12 and started another round of the anti-north campaign, characterizing the incident as an "infiltration of a north Korean armed agent." However, we have nothing to do with the incident. The anti-north campaign makes U.S. suspect that the incident is a third-rate plot to escalate inter-Korean confrontation, faked up by South Korean ultra-rightists who are allergic to the atmosphere of reconciliation and cooperation which is being created between the north and the south. With "jindogae-1" (alert order) the South Korean rulers had better intensify check-ups within South Korea.

Kim Jong Il sends wreath to bier of the late Kim Ung Chol

Pyongyang, July 14 (KCNA) - General Secretary Kim Jong Il sent a wreath to the bier of the late Kim Ung Chol, member of the Central Auditing Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea, deputy to the Supreme People's Assembly and President of Foreign Trade Bank, on July 13 to express deep condolences over his death.

President of foreign trade bank passes away

Pyongyang, July 14 (KCNA) -- Kim Ung Chol, member of the Central Auditing Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea, deputy to the Supreme People's Assembly and President of the Foreign Trade Bank, died of illness at the age of 69 on July 12. An obituary on his death was issued in the joint name of the WPK Central Committee and the Administration Council. According to the obituary, he worked in banking for a long time, contributing to developing the foreign trade of the country.

Meeting of voters at constituency No. 666

Pyongyang, July 14 (KCNA) -- A meeting of voters was held at the April 25 House of Culture on July 13 to vow to prove themselves worthy of deep trust shown by the General Secretary Kim Jong Il who agreed to be registered as candidate at constituency No. 666 for the 10th Supreme People's Assembly Election. Speakers said it is an expression of deep trust in the Korean People's Army that he has agreed to be registered as candidate at their constituency. It is an auspicious event in that the ardent desire of all people's army officers and men has come true. It is the honour and happiness of voters in the army, they said. They stressed they would contribute to making the people's army a model for society in ideology, struggle and life. They expressed the determination of servicemen to prepare themselves to be a-match-for-a hundred fighters through intensified combat and political training so as to defend the socialist fatherland as firm as an impregnable fortress. Director of the KPA General Political Department Jo Myong Rok, Chief of the KPA general staff Kim Yong Chun, and first vice-Minister of the People's Armed Forces Kim Il Chol were present at the meeting.

S. Korean authorities denounced for scheming to fabricate new government-controlled tool

Pyongyang, July 14 (KCNA) -- the secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland published information bulletin No. 766 on July 13 denouncing the South Korean authorities for scheming to set up a government-controlled reactionary organisation called "all-people council for national reconciliation and cooperation" in a bid to frustrate the grand reunification festival slated for August 15. What they seek in this scheme is to poke their nose into the grand pro-reunification festival under the signboard of a non-governmental organisation for the purpose of frustrating it and, furthermore, completely disorganising and stifling the independent non-governmental reunification movement in South Korea, the information bulletin said, and continued: As their attempt to intervene in the festival through "Minister of National Unification" Kang In Dok was frustrated, they changed their method and resort to more vicious moves to bring the festival to a rupture. Worse still, they intend to monopolize dialogue and contact between the north and the south under the guise of a non-governmental organisation after the method of "unified channel for dialogue" employed by the preceding authorities proved ineffective. If their moves to set up a new government-controlled council are allowed, the planned grand festival will be frustrated and a new tool "monopolizing dialogue" will appear in South Korea. Then, independent non-governmental dialogue and reunification movement will be blocked and the pro-reunification, pro-democracy forces in South Korea will inevitably be disorganised. The South Korean authorities must at once stop the anti-reunification moves against the aspirations and desire of the nation, abolish the "National Security Law", dissolve the "Agency for National Security Planning", release imprisoned pro-reunification patriotic figures and refrain from obstructing the free activities of pro-reunification patriotic forces including the south headquarters of the National Alliance for the Country's Reunification (Pomminryon) and the South Korean Federation of University Student Councils (Hanchongryon).

Heart of Kim Il Sung will throb forever

Pyongyang, July 14 (KCNA) -- O. Shenin, Chairman of the Council of the Union of Communist Parties-the Ccommunist Party of the Soviet Union, was interviewed by the KCNA correspondent in Russia on July 9 on the occasion of the fourth death anniversary of the President Kim Il Sung. He said that though the great herat of Kim Il Sung stopped throbbing, he will always live in the hearts of the Korean people and the progressive humankind of the world. The heartbeat of Kim Il Sung, who advanced the world and gave eternal vitality to the socialist cause of the world, powerfully encourages the just struggle of the Korean people and human history to accomplishment of the cause of reunification, socialism and communism, he noted, and added: Kim Il Sung is a peerless hero, sun and great man of virtues with a great and eternal heart. His great heart will always throb in the mind of the Korean people who are heroically advancing under the leadership of General Secretary Kim Jong Il. With his eternal heartbeat socialism will certainly revive and prosper on a world-wide scale and global independence is sure to come.

Brisk class education

Pyongyang, July 14 (KCNA) -- Korea is attaching importance to strengthening education in the working class viewpoint among working people, youth and children as part of ideological education. Class education is being conducted in the form of a meeting with witnesses and victims to swear revenge, an oratorical meeting, drawing exhibition, visit and so on. The Central Youth Hall has organized true-story-telling forums for class education from July 1997. It carried on explanatory and propaganda work among nearly 70,000 people across the country on more than 140 occasions as of the end of June this year. Among those who took the floor are an old man Kim Se Guk who was taken to Japan at the age of 14 and forced to do slave labour for 15-16 hours a day, Kim Myong Gum (woman), who made a narrow escape from death after being kept in a powder store in Wonam-ri, Sinchon county, South Hwanghae Province, by the U.S. imperialists during the Korean War, and Won Han Su (man) who served in the army in the area along the Military Demarcation Line. The stories of their personal experiences give a serious lesson that they can never live with the class enemies under the same sky and they should fight to the end. Class consciousness is being implanted in the minds of working people, youth and schoolchildren through class education rooms built across the country. On display in the rooms are photos showing the 100-odd-year history of the U.S. imperialists'aggression on Korea, the crimes of the Japanese imperialists who illegally enforced the unheard-of colonial rule over Korea for 41 years, fine art works and sculptures depicting the miserable plight of working people. The Sinchon Museum exposing horrible human slaughter committed by the U.S. imperialists during the Korean War is an important place for class education. Schools throughout the country are instilling class consciousness into the minds of students in various forms and ways to suit their ages and psychological characters.

Operation to free Taejon during Korean War

Pyongyang, July 14 (KCNA) -- No sooner had they started a surprise invasion of north Korea than the U.S. imperialists suffered one defeat after another due to immediate counteroffensive of the Korean People's Army. The operation to free Taejon (July 14-20, 1950), which is recorded in history of wars as a living model for the modern encirclement warfare, is well illustrative of their defeat. The U.S. imperialists, who were driven out of Seoul in a matter of three days after the outbreak of the war, proclaimed Taejon the "temporary capital" and built strong defense positions on the south bank of the River Kum. They announced that this was the "line of no retreat" or the "last defense line." The President Kim Il Sung made a scientific analysis of the balance of forces and the perspective for the war, and put forward a policy of giving no breathing spell to the enemies who were making desperate efforts to arrest the advancement of the people's army, striking successive blows at them, foiling the U.S.aggressors in their plan to maintain the defense line along the River Kum and the Sobaek Range, encircling and annihilating the main force of the enemies in Taejon and in the southeast area of the Sobaek Range and providing favourable conditions for a quick advancement towards the south sea and Taegu. The combined units of the people's army crossed the river with the backing of a strong gunfire in the 12 kilometre-Long kongju-thaephyongri section of the frontline, coupled with a false river-crossing drawing the attention of the enemy, and completely destroyed the defense positions with which the enemies said they could hold out for three years. The enemies from different directions were driven into Taejon. A combined unit of the people's army the task of which was to move to an area southeast of Taejon, block off the enemy's retreat and cut the route for reinforcements and thus contribute to the completion of the siege of Taejon met with a persistent resistance of the enemy. The president, informed of this, told a people's army unit which had already moved towards the southwest of Taejon to quickly make a detour to the southeast of Taejon to cut off the enemy's retreatment. True to his instructions, the people's army unit that had been active in ronsan southwest of Taejon went toward the southeast of Taejon through 40-odd kilometre long mountain range overnight to complete the rencirclement of Taejon. The combined units of the people's army launched an all- out offensive to annihilate the enemies in an area as small as about 100 square kilometres. Taejon was liberated on July 20. In the battle the then commander of the U.S.24th division, dean, was taken prisoner and 24,228 troops were killed or taken captive. More than 150 guns, 49 tanks, some 1,000 military trucks and scores of military freight cars were captured or destroyed. The U.S. aggressors' defeat in Taejon was the prelude to their ruin.

World's first metal type

Pyongyang, July 14 (KCNA) -- The Korean nation contributed a great deal to the development of science and culture of humankind by making many inventions. Among them is metal printing type. Metal printing type was invented in the first half of the 12th century. As a result, publishing business was promoted considerably in Korea in those days. The relics of metal type were unearthed in Kaesong, the capital of Koryo which was the first united state in Korea. The oldest record concerning the use of metal type is the preface of the book Kokumsangjongrye (a collection of laws laid down in Koryo, a feudal state, and feudal moral standards) -- which was reprinted around 1234. Written in the preface is the fact that the book consisting of 50 volumes was printed in metal types. This shows the printing by making use of metal type was conducted widely and on a fairly high level in the early 13th century. Koreans continued to develop metal printing type and invented and used lead type in the 15th century. Korean ancestors introduced a lot of inventions into the technical sphere, such as the survey of raw materials, mining, melting and casting so as to cast metal types. In the course of this, the characteristics of the printing engineering of lead which is most suitable for printing type casting material were grasped and the world's first printing type made of lead was invented in 1436. This means that Korea was the first in the world to invent and use not only copper but also lead printing types.

Kim Jong Il registered as SPA candidate

Pyongyang, July 14 (KCNA) -- The Central Election Committee for the Tenth Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea made an announcement today. According to the announcement, General Secretary Kim Jong Il has been registered as a SPA candidate at constituency No. 666.