DPRK mission secretary abducted by S. Korean "Intelligence Service" in broad daylight

Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) -- Kim Kyong Phil, a secretary of the DPRK mission in Germany, and his wife were abducted by "Intelligence Service" of South Korea in broad daylight on January 13. Kim Mun Dok, a brother-in-law of Kim Kyong Phil, stated this in an interview with KCNA on February 11, exposing the truth behind terrorism by the South Korean "Intelligence Service". After introducing himself as an official of the UNICEF mission in Vietnam, he recalled that he often had contacts with his sister and brother-in-law by telephone. He said: They used to tell me over phone they felt uneasy due to vicious intelligence activities and a smear campaign of agents of the South Korean Intelligence Service against the DPRK mission in Germany getting all the more pronounced with each passing day. At 2 p.m. on January 17 my elder sister made an urgent call to me when I was in my office at the mission. She hurriedly told me, "we fell victims to a plot hatched by gangsters of the South Korean 'Agency for National Security Planning'. Be firmly determined and beware of them." Her message was interrupted before she finished her call. No sooner had I heard her strained and perplexed voice than I perceived immediately that they were abducted by agents of the South Korean "Intelligence Service." On the morning of January 19 two days after my telephone contact with my elder sister a man surnamed Ri from Seoul called me. He asked me if I had any problem which required "help" from him. He told me to get in touch with the "South Korean embassy," if any. On January 20 that man made a call of appeasement and threat to my house. When I strongly protested against this, the villain rang off phone, and afterwards he has never done such a thing. Judging from the foolish acts of the enemies, I was aware that they were trying to lead me astray after kidnapping my elder sister and brother-in-law. Kim Mun Dok testified that his elder sister told him over phone that she and her husband had been abducted by gangsters of the South Korean "ANSP" and that judging from the telephone message from the enemies and their plot to kidnap him, it was obvious that her elder sister and brother-in-law had been abducted by agents of the South Korean "Intelligence Service." His elder sister and brother-in-law always told him not to turn a traitor to his country, though he was not able to do admirable things for the sake of the country, he said. The allegations that his elder sister and brother-in-law "defected" do not deserve even a passing note, he said, and continued: I can hardly repress indignation and hatred for the South Korean authorities who abducted my elder sister and brother-in-law in broad daylight. I feel deep regret at the attitude of the German authorities who remained a passive onlooker to the white terrorism against the DPRK mission secretary with diplomatic privilege. I earnestly call upon the UN commission on human rights, world human rights bodies and organisations, an international organisation of democratic lawyers and personages to pay deep attention to the rescue of my elder sister and brother-in-law who were abducted by the South Korean "Intelligence Service" and to take active steps. We make it clear that we will continue fighting for their reinstatement.


Cambodian King congratulates Kim Jong Il on his birthday

Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) - General Secretary Kim Jong Il received a congratulatory message from Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk on Feb. 1 on the occasion of his birthday. The message noted that Marshal Kim Jong Il who is just like Generalissimo Kim Il Sung has brought happiness and prosperity to the Korean people and provided high international dignity of the DPRK and its invincible armed forces through tireless efforts for miraculous development of the DPRK in all fields of Juche-oriented socialist construction. The Kingdom of Cambodia will always remember the enormous contributions of the DPRK to help Cambodia gain great successes in the struggle for national liberation and defence of the independence of the nation and the overall development of the country, it said, and added: It will always stand by the DPRK and you. The message expressed firm support for his most patriotic and just policy for the independent and peaceful reunification of Korea.


National art exhibition opens

Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) -- A national art exhibition opened to celebrate the 57th birthday of General Secretary Kim Jong Il. Put on display are over 100 Korean paintings, oil paintings and posters showing the revolutionary activities and feats of Kim Jong Il who has led the Korean revolution for decades and the spirit of the Korean people who are out to accomplish the Juche revolutionary cause, rallied close around him. Among them are Korean paintings "the Great Commander Marshal Kim Jong Il", "the Respected Supreme Commander Kim Jong Il visits soldiers on the New Year's day." "the Great leader Kim Jong Il finds himself among scientists" and poster "Let us step up second grand Chollima march "


UN commission on human rights calls for end to suppression under "NSL"

Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) -- The UN commission on human rights in a resolution called upon the "government for the people" to rescue Kim Kun Thae who had been persecuted on the charges of violating the "National Security Law" (NSL) when he had been working at the coalition for national democratic movement, a pro-democracy movement organization, in the period of the "6th republic" in South Korea and to prevent the recurrence of suppression under this evil law. The resolution called upon the "government" to compensate the victim, to translate the resolution into Korean, open it to public and to inform the commission of the results of the work done to meet the above-mentioned demands. The present "government" turned its back on it. Last October the commission adopted a resolution demanding the rescue of a victim of the "NSL" and informed the "government" of it only to be ignored. The South Korean authorities' outrages clearly show that the "improved human rights situation" on their lips is a sheer lie.


Chinese ambassador gives reception

Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) -- Chinese ambassador to Korea Wan Yongxiang gave a reception at the embassy on Thursday with the approach of the birthday of General Secretary Kim Jong Il and the lunar New Year's day. He said in his speech that the Korean people set this year as a year of great turning-point in building a powerful nation and are making great efforts to greet the 55th founding anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea with brilliant achievements. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Korea, which will be a striking landmark in the annals of the traditional China-Korea friendship and a good occasion in developing the friendly relations between the two countries on to a new phase, he said, and went on: The friendly relations between the two countries have developed under the deep concern of the preceding and present leaders of the two countries for 50 years. To continue developing the friendly relations is the steadfast stand of the party and government of China. Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun in his speech said that the respected Marshal Kim Jong Il has led the Korean revolution to an ever-victorious road, in the idea of attaching priority to military affairs and with his peculiar benevolent politics even under the present harsh situation. The Chinese people have achieved great successes in the work to carry out the decisions of the 15th Congress of the Communist Party of China under the leadership of the party headed by the respected Jiang Zemin , he said. He sincerely hoped that the fraternal Chinese people would gain greater successes in the struggle for socialist modernization and reunification of the country this year which marks the 50th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China and the return of Macao to it.


Preparatory committee of February 16 Fellowship Society formed in S. Korea

Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) -- Members of the February 16 Fellowship Society in South Korea formed a preparatory committee for celebrating the 57th birthday of General Secretary Kim Jong Il on January 20, Seoul-based radio Voice of National Salvation quoted the Seoul city committee of the National Democratic Front of South Korea as saying. They in a resolution fixed a period from January 20 to February 20 as celebration days and decided to hold various functions, including the watching of video tapes, presentation of songs and poem recitals praising the immortal exploits of Kim Jong Il. They also decided to publish leaflets and booklets praising Kim Jong Il, disseminate them to patriotic people of various social strata and conduct a more powerful propaganda to explain the immortal Juche idea.


S. Korean women are not sex slaves of GIs

Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) -- Are South Korean women sex slaves of GIs? This question is raised again amid the accusations of the thrice-cursed murders of a South Korean woman Jon Ji Na and a 4-year-old child by a noncommissioned officer of the U.S. forces present in South Korea on January 27 just before his return home. The GI who mentally and physically destroyed a woman is now protected by the U.S. army authorities on the pretext of the right of silence. The U.S. acts as if it were a "human rights judge" in the world. The U.S. authorities, congress and media keep mum about the murder. The U.S. has long talked about "human rights" and taken issue with other countries over "human rights." U.S. Congress and media never let a chance pass by without talking about "human rights." If a similar incident occurred in Japan where the U.S.forces are stationed, how they would react? It is well known to the world that when a GI in Japan committed a sexual harassment against a Japanese schoolgirl in Yokosuka on April 2, 1997, they could not keep mum about it. Then how one should interpret their stand and viewpoint about the recent murders of South Koreans? The American double standard over "human rights" finds expression in the exercise of "right of silence." As a U.S. ambassador to South Korea admitted, Americans consider South Koreans not as man, but as "fieldmouse." That is why Yankees treat South Korean women as their sex slaves. The Korean people bitterly denounce GIs for their flagrant violation of human rights and clearly state South Korean women are not sex slaves.


Unpardonable subcritical nuclear test

Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) -- The United States carried out one more subcritical nuclear test with 170 grams of plutonium in Nevada underground nuclear test site on February 9, NHK radio said. The recent nuclear test is a naked challenge to the desire of humankind for a new world free from nuclear weapons. It, therefore, cannot be tolerated in any case. The U.S.department of energy's description of the recent test as a test with no nuclear explosion involved is a rigmarole to mislead public opinion. The recent U.S. subcritical nuclear test was the sixth from July 1997. That is indicative of the continued U.S. nuclear arms development. That is why the world peace-loving people are lashed into fury at the U.S. subcritical nuclear test. The U.S. is making outcries over the "suspected underground nuclear facility" in the DPRK while going ahead with nuclear tests, ignoring strong protest and accusations from the world people. This betrays its double-dealing act. The U.S. should put an immediate halt to the deceptive subcritical nuclear test.


Work of Kim Jong Il published in Nepal

Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Kim Jong Il's work "Let Us Reunify the Country Independently and Peacefully Through the Great Unity of the Entire Nation" was published in Nepal with the approach of his birthday. A book release ceremony was held on February 7. Present were politicians public figures and men of the press, including the chairman of the National Council of Nepal.


Diplomatic representatives visit Revolutionary Museum of Kim Il Sung University

Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) -- Diplomatic representatives here yesterday visited the Revolutionary Museum of Kim Il Sung University on the occasion of the birthday of General Secretary Kim Jong Il. They looked round historic materials and relics on display, being briefed on the revolutionary activities conducted by Kim Jong Il at the university in the first half of the 1960s.


Korean books presented to India

Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) -- A ceremony for presenting Korean books was held at Isian Management and Technique Institute of India on Feb. 4 on the occasion of the 57th birthday of General Secretary Kim Jong Il. The Korean ambassador to India conveyed works of the President Kim Il Sung and Marshal Kim Jong Il and Korean books to the head of the institute. The head said through the distribution of books the institute would more deeply grasp the ideas and wise leadership of the President and the Marshal and contribute to boosting the friendship and solidarity between the Indian and the Korean people.


Formation of air operation command against north projected

Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) -- The South Korean warmongers decided to set up an air operation command by drastically elevating the functions of the present army air command and beefing up its equipment and merging helicopter units, according to the South Korean newspaper Choongang Ilbo February 10. The air operation command to be organised in April, is aimed at large-scale separate operations and strike at the rear of North Korea. In opening to the public the criminal plan, the "government for the people" showed that it is hell-bent on war preparations against the north.


KCNA on criminal records of present South Korean regime

Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) -- KCNA published a memorandum on Thursday laying bare pro-American, pro-Japanese and anti-reunification crimes committed by the self-styled "government for the people" of South Korea in the last one year. The memorandum quoted mass media of South Korea and Japan as saying that the "government for the people" has committed sycophantic and treacherous acts which far surpass those of the preceding South Korean regimes. It further said: As soon as he took the "presidential office," the present chief executive of South Korea unhesitatingly revealed his nature as a pro-American flunkeyist. He called at the South Korea-U.S. "combined forces command" led by U.S. generals and told Americans that the U.S. troops "must remain in South Korea for peace and stability in northeast Asia" and that they must continue to perform their mission even after the reunification of the Korean peninsula. During his tour of the United States last June, he insisted that it is "necessary for 100,000 U.S. troops to continue to remain in northeast Asia" and the U.S. troops must stay in Korea even after the Korean peninsula has been reunified. Worse still, he proposed to revise the South Korea-U.S. "mutual defense treaty" in an attempt to make an institutional arrangement for keeping the U.S. troops in South Korea for an indefinite period. On top of it, South Korea is covering a larger portion of expenses for the upkeep of the U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. The amount increased to 399 million U.S. dollars in 1998, the first year of his office or an increase of 36 million U.S. dollars compared to the figure of the previous year. The present South Korean regime is shielding the Japanese authorities in their scheme to avoid liquidating Japan's past crimes and encouraging its militarism. Typical of this is the Japan visit of the present chief executive of South Korea. No sooner had he set his foot in Tokyo last October on a visit to Japan than he told the Japanese "Emperor": "There was a very short period of unfriendly relations in the history of the two countries, and this was a serious blot on the long-standing friendly relations between Japan and South Korea. It was something disgraceful not only for the ancestors but also for the descendants." His utterances are a wanton distortion of history and a mockery of the Korean people, victims of aggression by the Japanese imperialists. Last September witnessed the signing of a "fisheries accord" between the South Korean regime and the reactionary Japanese government. under this accord, a wide expanse of South Korea's fishing grounds was handed over to the Japanese side and Tok Islet, an inviolable territory of Korea, was sold off. The signing of the accord brougth the South Korean fishermen an annual loss of 1,072.5 billion won. The South Korean regime opened doors wide for the Japanese culture, with the result that corrupt culture of Japan has made its way in South Korea. It declared the fellow countrymen in the north "principal enemy." while scheming to keep the country divided for an indefinite period, it has tried to hurt the fellow countrymen in the north hand in glove with outside forces. When asked how he thought of northerners at a press conference, the present chief executive answered: "They are our compatriots. But they are our enemy as long as they remain communists." Last December Kim Jong Pil also cried, "Our enemy is doubtlessly the communist people's army which must be overpowered." "Minister of National Defence" of South Korea Chon Yong Thaek told a meeting of the "Defence Committee of the National Assembly" held last October that the north is obviously "the principal enemy." The self-styled "government for the people" is zealously joining the U.S. and Japanese reactionaries in their criminal scheme to operate the U.S.-Japan-South Korea triangular military alliance on a full scale within the framework of "operation plan 5027." If the present South Korean rulers want not to be judged by history, they must immediately stop inflicting sufferings and misfortunes upon the fellow countrymen. s


Greetings to Syrian President

Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) -- President Kim Yong Nam of the presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK today sent a message of greetings to Hafez Al Aasad upon his reelection as President of the Syrian Arab Republic. His reelection as President is an expression of high respect and trust of all Syrian Arab people towards him and proves justness of his principled stand and effort to build a prosperous and modern Syria, regain all occupied Arab lands including golan heights, defend sovereignty and dignity of Arab nation and secure a fair and comprehensive peace in the middle east, the message said. Expressing the belief that excellent relations of friendship and cooperation and traditional ties of solidarity between the two countries based on genuine moral obligation will further strengthen and develop, the message wished him new successes in his responsible work.


Greetings to Venezuelan Foreign Minister

Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) -- DPRK Foreign Minister, Paek Nam Sun sent a message of greetings to Jose Vicente Rangel on his appointment as Foreign Minister of Venezuela. The message expressed belief that the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries will further develop in the interest of the two peoples. It wished him success in his responsible work.


1,000 tons of rice to DPRK from India

Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) -- The government of the Republic of India donated 1,000 tons of rice in aid to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It has already offered 100,000 dollars worth of blankets, 1,000 tons of wheat and 2,000 tons of rice, as relief goods for recovery from natural disasters in the DPRK. A ceremony for handing over the rice took place at Nampho Port today. This humanitarian aid encourages the Korean people in their efforts to tide over temporary difficulties resulting from natural calamities and attain food self-sufficiency.



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