Senior officials attend school opening ceremonies
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA ) -- A new school year began at schools across the country on Thursday.
School opening ceremonies were held all at once that day at universities and all other schools fully ready for education and afterschool activities.
Hong Song Nam, Kye Ung Thae, Choe Thae Bok and other senior party and state officials attended ceremonies at Pyongyang Senior Middle School no. 1, Pyongyang Changjon Primary School, Changdok School and other senior middle and primary schools in different parts of the country and congratulated newcomers.
The first class work of the new school year started after the ceremonies.
Those officials inspected classes at work and conversed with teachers and students.
Anti-DPRK smear campaign flailed
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA ) -- The spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland issued on April 1 a statement denouncing the South Korean authorities for their recent vicious anti-north smear campaign.
Recently the South Korea n authorities renamed the "Agency for the National Security Planning" "Intelligence Service" under the signboard of "reducing" its functions.
However, it has further intensified anti-north operations by beefing its set-up and staff, cooking up anti-north organizations with all shades of philistines and publishing anti-north booklets.
The statement strongly denounced these moves of the South Korea n authorities as a manifestation of the policy of the self-proclaimed "government for people" against dialogue, peace and reunification and as an intolerable challenge to the nation's aspiration for reconciliation and unity.
It goes on:
It is foolish of them to try to dampen the fellow countrymen's desire for reconciliation, unity and reunification by persisting in their anti-north maneuvers through the notorious "intelligence service."
The South Korea n ruling quarters should immediately dismantle the "Intelligence Service," a centre of anti-north operations, and positively respond to a reasonable dialogue offer of the DPRK , mindful of serious consequences to be entailed by their anti-north maneuvers.
KCNA on Japan's anachronistic way of thinking and arrogance
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- Recently the present chief executive and a senior diplomat of Japan at the talks with the Foreign Minister of a mideast Arab country friendly to the DPRK during the latter's visit to Japan urged it to stop "missile cooperation" with the DPRK , a foreign press report said.
If this is true we cannot remain a passive onlooker to Japan's provocation against the DPRK .
To increase defence capability vital to the existence of a sovereign state is a matter which belongs to the sovereignty of each country and each nation is free to choose an option of increasing this capability according to its specific conditions.
Any indiscreet interference in such a matter is a grave infringement upon the sovereignty of an independent state and intervention in its internal affairs.
Their remarks are clear evidence that Japan with its crime woven history in which it brought unspeakable disasters to humankind, including the Asian people, still styles itself as a suzerain state controlling colonies. It is going hectic to establish "Theatre Missile Defence" system in the wake of its launch of spy satellites. This is the real picture of Japan, a criminal and defeated state in the second world war.
In utter disregard of others' views on Japan it is taking issue with the DPRK over the mideast missile issue which has nothing to do with its "security." this is clear evidence of its anachronistic way of thinking and arrogance.
The DPRK has made clear its stand on missile issue more than once and this remains unchanged.
The DPRK and the United States are discussing the missile issue as an outstanding one. Japan is trying to use the missile issue in achieving a sinister political purpose of fostering distrust between the DPRK and those countries which have traditional relations of friendship with it. This may throw a grave obstacle in the way of the on-going DPRK -U.S. negotiations.
With no desperate efforts can the Japanese ultra-rightist reactionaries can ever keep the DPRK from developing friendly and cooperative relations with Arab countries in the efforts to build a new peaceful and impartial world, the shared goal of humankind, in the idea of independence, peace and friendship.
Anti-"government" struggle in S. Korea
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA ) -- Over 3,000 workers and peasants in South Korea held rallies on Thursday, protesting against the misrule of the authorities and vowing to struggle for vital rights, a Seoul-based radio reported.
An estimated 1,000 workers under the "National Federation of Public Transport and Service Trade Unions" called a protest rally and a press conference at which they declared they would fight to realize six demands such as reduction of working hours. The federation consists of 210 odd unions including the Seoul subway trade union.
"Restructuring" based on lay-off should be withdrawn, they said, demanding an immediate removal of the "planning and budgetary committee" which supervises it.
The federation announced that it would launch a general strike of 100,000 unionists on April 19.
In another development, more than 2,000 peasants met in Seoul to declare people's solidarity and struggle against the authorities' misrule.
They renewed the resolution to continue their struggle to check the anti-peasant, anti-fisherman policy of the authorities and defend the peasants' right to existence.
Mass to mark nirvana day held in Korea
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA ) -- Masses were held at temples in various parts of Korea to mark the 2,543rd day of Buddha's Nirvana on Thursday.
Taking part in the masses were clergymen and monks of the Korean Buddhists Federation central committee, its provincial, city and county committees and other believers.
Speakers at the masses said, on the nirvana day, Buddhists in the northern half of Korea are determined to build on this land an earthly paradise, a powerful reunified country at any cost. They expressed the resolution to carry on practical patriotic activities for reunification in solidarity with the Buddhists in South Korea and overseas in response to the appeal of the joint meeting of the government, political parties and public organizations of the north on adorning this year as a year of the independence and great unity of the nation and opening a new phase of reunification through wide-ranging inter-Korean dialogues.
They denounced the anti-reunification forces in South Korea and abroad for their traitorous moves to perpetuate the nation's division by aggravating the situation through a smear campaign over the non-existent "suspected underground nuclear facility" in the north and its "possession of bio-chemical weapons" and the loudmouthed fiction of "impossible unification" and "engagement policy".
They urged the South Korean authorities to show true will for reunification by implementing the priorities for inter-Korea n dialogue at the earliest possible date.
"Measure for multi-faceted channel toward north" flailed
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA ) -- The South Korean authorities recently announced a "measure for multi-faceted channel toward the north" which allows nongovernmental organizations to have economic cooperation and exchange with the north their own way through "multi-faceted channels," instead of the unified channel of red cross.
Commenting on it, Rodong Sinmun today says:
The "measure" is a trite deceptive trick of anti-national separatists who do not want economic cooperation between fellow countrymen and improved north-south relations in true sense.
Though clamouring about "multi-faceted channel," the South Korean authorities have set self-flattering standard in their favour. By the standards some nongovernmental organizations are allowed to conduct economic cooperation their own way but organizationally strong and big bodies such as the (South) Korean Federation of University Student Councils and financially strong economic organizations are not permitted to undertake such activities.
The fact proves the "multi-faceted channel" is the other side of "unified channel."
In actuality the South Korean rulers have no stake in the sincere economic cooperation between the fellow countrymen, though vociferating about "multi-faceted channel" and "economic cooperation," the news analyst says, and goes on:
The "measure" is a product of their sinister intention to tone down the voices of the fellow countrymen demanding an early implementation of priorities for inter-Korean dialogue, which were laid down at the joint meeting of the DPRK .
If they think they can use this poor "card" called "multi-faceted channel" in implementing the priorities it is a miscalculation.
The South Korean rulers should not fool the fellow countrymen with such childish play, but implement at an early date the priorities which should be done for the improved north-south relations.
Unconditional repatriation of unconverted long-term prisoners demanded
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA ) -- 17 long-term prisoners were released from prison in South Korea in February. The members of the Family Movement for Realizing Democracy (Mingahyop) urged the authorities to repatriate them to the north according to their wishes as most of them hail from the north, South Korea n press reports said.
The Mingahyop demanded the unconditional repatriation of them, saying the present authorities are trying to detain them in the south to use them for their political purpose, insisting on the absurd "exchange."
R.S. on contrasting views and stands of Germany and Japan toward past history
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA ) -- Rodong Sinmun today carries its commentator's article entitled "On Japan's irresponsibility, shamelessness and immorality" which shows the contrasting views and attitudes of Germany and Japan toward the past history.
The article says:
Both Germany and Japan are responsible for terrible disasters inflicted upon humankind. However, they are clean different from each other in their admission and views on this.
The German government officially admitted its responsibilities for the past war and has apologized and compensated for what it did in the war.
Germany admitted that its government and people should take responsibilities for the war started by Nazi Germany and prohibited practices of their denial by law.
The German government has made dlrs. 60 to 80 billion compensations since the second world war ceased. As voices demanding compensation got louder, it announced in February that a "fund for commemoration, responsibility and future" aimed at compensating victims would be set up.
Facts eloquently show that Germany is making sincere efforts to act as a full-fledged member nation of the international community by winning confidence from other peoples and promoting reconciliation, free of guilty conscience, on the basis of completely resolving its past.
This stands out in sharp contrast to what Japan has done.
Compared with such a sincere stand and attitude of Germany toward the past history, Japan's attitude and stance toward its past crimes are too irresponsible and shameless.
Japan's responsibilities for calamities inflicted upon humankind cannot be said to be lighter than those of Germany. On the contrary, they are more serious.
The Japanese imperialists committed unimaginably heinous crimes against the Asian peoples including those of China and other southeast Asian countries.
Worse still, they illegally occupied Korea and enforced the colonial rule for nearly half a century. In this period, they forcibly drafted more than six million Korea n people, killed as many as one million, reduced nearly 200,000 women to sex slaves and destroyed or looted enormous resources and cultural assets from Korea .
Indeed, their crimes were so monstrous and cruel in human history.
More than half a century has passed since then. But, the Japanese authorities still refuse to admit the history of aqgression and crimes.
Japan has negated its history woven with murder and plunder. Not content with this, it is making no scruple to justify and beautify this history.
At the utmost, it uttered nothing but "owabi" in a bid to deceive and flout the world public.
Such jugglery of words cannot substitute for the expression of apology for its past crimes.
Nothing similar to Germany's views and admission of the past history can be found in Japan. Worse still, Japan lags far behind Germany in this aspect.
Why is Japan so adamantly and shamelessly refusing to admit, apologize and compensate for the past crimes?
It is not ascribable to its deep-seated evil habits but to its ill-gotten intention to repeat the past history of aggression and crimes.
Japan has pushed ahead with preparations for reinvasion on a full scale, swearing revenge for its defeat in the war.
At present, it is hellbent on gratifying its ambition with the strength it has cultivated for more than 50 years.
Another cunning estimation of the Japanese authorities is that if they get along refusing to admit the past history woven with aggression and crimes and apologize and make up for them, its past will be buried in oblivion of history or fade from the memory of the people any time.
No matter how many years may pass, the wrath of the Korea n and other Asian peoples against the Japanese imperialists can never be allayed.
If it had followed the precedent of Germany even a little although its act was not on its own initiative, Japan would not have been criticised by international public for its irresponsibility, shamelessness and immorality that have reached their height.
Japan must clearly know that any country which refuses to discharge its responsibility and moral obligation under international law cannot win international confidence nor have any qualification to exist on the earth.
The only way for Japan to win international confidence and live in peace as others is to make proper compensation for its past.
Such foolish people as the South Korean puppets might pardon Japan for its crimes for a small amount of money.
But, the Korea n people will not pardon Japan for refusing to liquidate its past.
The Korean people will certainly make Japan pay for the humiliation, misfortunes, sufferings and disasters imposed upon them by the Japanese imperialists generation after generation.
U.S. conservatives warned
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- If the U.S. conservatives persistently choose to provoke a second Korea n war, the people and the People's Army of Korea will never miss the chance of taking revenge for which they have waited for scores of years but strike an annihilating blow at the aggressors, stresses Minju Joson in a commentary today.
The news analyst says:
Former U.S. secretary of state Baker let loose an outburst that the United States should pursue a tough policy hinting that it can introduce the same nuclear deterrent into North Korea as what was in place to contain the former Soviet Union in the Cold War era.
We cannot but take Baker's bellicose remarks serious as they came when the U.S. ill-boding military manoeuvrings are under way in a bid to cope with the "emergency" on the Korean peninsula.
The U.S. conservatives' talk about "nuclear deterrent" against the DPRK is timed to coincide with its frantic military manoeuvres in and around the Korean peninsula. It is not difficult to guess what this means.
After all, the U.S. attempt to provoke a nuclear war to invade the DPRK has turned out to be a fait accompli and it is a matter of time.
The DPRK neither wants a war nor fears it, the commentary says, warning that the U.S. conservatives should drop their policy of aggression against the DPRK if they do not want to sustain the same miserable defeat as what they did in the last Korean war.