Exploits of Kim Il Sung praised
Pyongyang, April 13 (KCNA) -- Chairman of the People's Front of India B. Mohan had an interview with the KCNA correspondent to India on April 8 on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the President Kim Il Sung and praised his exploits for the cause of national reunification. He said: The President advanced the three principles of national reunification -- independence, peaceful reunification and great national unity -- which were jointly confirmed by the north and south of Korea and recognized by the international community and the proposal for founding the Democratic Confederal Republic of Koryo, their embodiment, and the 10-point program of the great unity of the whole nation.
By doing so, he indicated principles and ways to accomplish national reunification at the earliest possible date. The principles, the program and the proposal are the great charter for national reunification which could be set forth only by President Kim Il Sung, who devoted his whole life to the sacred cause for the country and nation and to the cause of national reunification to the last moment of his life. The reunification of Korea will surely be achieved because General Secretary Kim Jong Il has creditably inherited the cause of the President.
Film shows on Sun's Day
Pyongyang, April 13 (KCNA) -- The Foreign Ministry of the DPRK and the Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries on Monday sponsored film shows each on the occasion of Sun's Day. Invited were diplomatic envoys and officials in charge of culture and friendly relations of foreign embassies in Korea. Present were Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun and vice-chairman of the Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries Ri Song Ho and other officials concerned. The participants saw Korean documentary films "Great Life in 1994" showing the revolutionary activities of the President Kim Il Sung in the last period of his life and "Festival of glory which was grandly celebrated amid wishes of the world people."
Foreign embassy officials visit cultural exhibition
Pyongyang, April 13 (KCNA) -- Officials in charge of culture and friendly relations of foreign embassies in Korea visited the Pyongyang cultural exhibition on Monday on the occasion of Sun's Day. They looked round photos showing immortal leadership exploits of the President Kim Il Sung and General Secretary Kim Jong Il, famous works authored by them and Korean books and handiwork.
Trolley bus "Sonyonho" presented
Pyongyang, April 13 (KCNA) -- School children across the country presented extra-large trolley buses "Sonyonho" on the occasion of the 87th birth anniversary of the President Kim Il Sung. They presented 10 trolley buses in hearty response to the intention of General Secretary Kim Jong Il to make traffic more convenient for the citizens of the capital. A presentation meeting was held on Monday. Secretary of the Central Committee of the Worker's Party of Korea Kim Jung Rin and others were present there.
Friendly meeting hosted by Chinese ambassador
Pyongyang, April 13 (KCNA) -- Chinese ambassador to Korea Wan Yongxiang organized a friendly meeting at the embassy on Monday as regards the 17th April Spring Friendship Art Festival. Present on invitation were chairman Jang Chol of the festival organizing committee and officials concerned. On hand were Chinese artistes participating in the festival and Chinese embassy officials.
Gift to Kim Jong Il from Chinese delegation
Pyongyang, April 13 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Kim Jong Il received a gift from the Chinese government cultural delegation. It was handed to an official concerned by vice-Minister of Culture Ai Qingchun, head of the delegation on a visit to Korea.
Peruvian political party leader here
Pyongyang, April 13 (KCNA) -- Alberto Moreno, general secretary of the c.c., Communist Party of Peru (Red Motherland), arrived here on Monday with the approach of the birth anniversary of the President Kim Il Sung.
Sun's Day commemorated
Pyongyang, April 13 (KCNA) -- Commemorations of Sun's Day, the birthday of the President Kim Il Sung, are going on in the DPRK. A national loyal singing get-together of youth vanguard, an agricultural worker's public presentation of the President's virtues, a singing get-together to praise sun "our leader" and a joint national performance of art circles of the women's union were held in Pyongyang on Monday. The performers lauded the enduring revolutionary feats performed by the President, the father of socialist Korea and the eternal sun of Juche. They represented the faith and will of the Korean people to bring about the eternal prosperity of the sun's nation under the leadership of General Secretary Kim Jong Il as well as their life full of confidence and optimism.
Measure for national unity and reunification
Pyongyang, April 13 (KCNA) -- The Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland at its plenary meeting held here on Saturday adopted the slogans for great national unity and reunification of the country and decided to take relevant steps. This is an epochal measure for putting a period to the tragic history of national division that lasted for over half a century and powerfully encouraging the entire fellow countrymen to the just struggle for bringing about a new phase of national unity and reunification, says Minju Joson today in a signed commentary.
The paper goes on: Reflected in the slogans are all ideas and policies clarified by General Secretary Kim Jong Il in his celebrated work "Let us reunify the country independently and peacefully through the great unity of the entire nation," which was published last year. The entire fellow countrymen are firmly convinced that the great unity of the nation will be achieved and a turning phase be opened for national reunification when they adhere to the five-point policy for great national unity laid down in the work. That is why Koreans in the north, south and overseas have turned out as one in the patriotic struggle to implement the policy under its banner.
The release of the slogans is a very timely measure because the separatist forces within and without are intensifying the moves for aggression, war and national split more viciously than ever before. The idea carried in the slogans is a militant banner that should be upheld by everyone who hopes for the removal of root cause of war in Korea, improved inter-Korean relations and lasting peace and peaceful reunification, the paper stresses, calling upon the entire fellow countrymen to rise in a nationwide struggle to achieve the historic cause of national reunification.
Friendship and solidarity prevail on festival stages
Pyongyang, April 13 (KCNA) -- The 17th April Spring Friendship Art Festival that opened to commemorate Sun's Day is drawing capacity audiences at different theatres in Pyongyang. The second day performances of the festival given on Monday also included a number of programs that praised the President Kim Il Sung as the eternal sun of humankind and lauded General Secretary Kim Jong Il as the sun of the 21st century.
Chinese and Vietnamese soloists, domestic prize winners, were highly acclaimed by the audience when they sang Korean songs "Sing of Mangyongdae Crossroad" and "We miss you smiling all over your face" through which they vividly reflected the people's admiration for immortal revolutionary feats performed by President Kim Il Sung. The song and dance "Song of praise for sun presented by 70 million Koreans in Japan" performed by the Korean art troupe in Japan represented well the overseas compatriots' will to hold the President in high esteem forever and their best wishes for a long life and good health of the Marshal.
The chorus and dance "We will hold Marshal in higher esteem" and the song "My Motherland" staged by the overseas compatriot art troupes truly mirrored their desire to live under the care of the Marshal. Artistes from Belarus, Laos, Switzerland, Poland, Italy, Cambodia and other countries put on the stages colorful programs that vividly reflected thoughts and custom of their people.
Programs staged by acrobats from several countries were also well received by the audiences. The performances given by the Chinese acrobatic group, Swedish and Vietnamese acrobats were acclaimed by them for their graceful rhythm and high artistic skills. Mongolian brother acrobats presented with a peculiar and refined skill the "two man etude" that received a gold prize at an international festival.
7th congress of Hanthongryon deputies
Tokyo, April 11 (KNS-KCNA) -- The 7th congress of deputies to the Federation of South Koreans in Japan for Democracy and Unification (Hanthongryon) was held in Tokyo on March 21, according to Minjok Sibo April 1, Korean's newspaper published in Japan. Chairman of Hanthongryon Kwak Tong Ui in his speech said national and democratic forces at home and abroad should build a front against the anti-national, anti-democratic South Korean "government" through unity.
Hanthongryon has expressed support and solidarity for the struggle of South Korean people by conducting an active reunification movement, the speaker said, calling for waging a powerful movement for independence, democracy and reunification in the future, too. The congress confirmed targets of Hanthongryon's movement for 1999. The targets are to reject the domination and interference of the foreign forces, to promote the democratization of South Korea by making the "National Security Law" rescinded, to support the struggle of South Korean people for the right to existence and to defend the national rights and interests of the Korean residents in Japan.
Sun's Day is greatest national holiday
Pyongyang, April 13 (KCNA) -- Sun's Day is being grandly commemorated in Korea as the greatest national holiday thanks to General Secretary Kim Jong Il who has personified loyalty to the President Kim Il Sung on the noblest level.
Kim Jong Il took a step to institute April 15, birthday of the President, as Sun's Day on the occasion of the 3rd anniversary of his death (July 1994) in conformity with the unanimous desire and will of all the Korean people. The day had been annually marked as the greatest national holiday in Korea before the instituting of Sun's Day.
In April Juche 63 (1974) Kim Jong Il told officials that the Korean people had many significant holidays. But, if they had not had the President, such historical events as national liberation and the founding of the Worker's Party of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea would have been unimaginable, he added. We should make it a tradition to mark the birthday of the President as the greatest national holiday and the happiest event of the Korean nation every year from this year, he stressed.
Therefore, such colorful functions as national meetings, seminars on his exploits, art performances and sports games have been held traditionally around April 15 to commemorate his birthday as the greatest national holiday. The Tower of the Juche Idea and the Arch of Triumph, the world famous monuments unique in their themes and styles, were erected under the guidance of Kim Jong Il on the occasion of the 70th birthday of the President to glorify his immortal revolutionary exploits generation after generation.
He saw to it that the April Spring Friendship Art Festival was held in Pyongyang, considerate of the ardent desire of the world revolutionary people to commemorate the April holiday as the common holiday of humankind. Kimilsungia shows were held throughout the country and a national art exhibition and a 10-day film show have opened around Sun's Day. Besides, sports games, art performances and colourful events are being held.
Particularly, the international art festival involving foreign artistes and overseas. Korean artistes from over 40 countries is now under way at famous theatres and halls including the Mansudae Art Theatre and the Pyongyang Grand Theatre.
Establishment anniv. of diplomatic relation with Zambia
Pyongyang, April 13 (KCNA) -- Minju Joson today dedicates a signed article to the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the DPRK and Zambia. The friendly and cooperative relations between the two peoples have developed on good terms in various fields since the opening of these diplomatic ties, the article says, and goes on: Today the Zambian people are striving to sustain the stability of the country and create a new life .
The Zambian government is making efforts to develop solidarity and cooperation with other African countries, following the policy of non-alignment externally. The Korean people sincerely rejoice at their achievements made in the efforts for the independent development and prosperity of the country. The Korean people wish the Zambian people greater success in the struggle to build a new society and are confident that the DPRK-Zambia friendly and cooperative relations will grow stronger in the future.
We were voluntary defectors
Pyongyang, April 13 (KCNA) -- The present South Korean chief executive makes the issue of "POWs of the ROK army" a fait accompli, evoking a spate of indignation among the defectors to the north.
Kim In Son, 68, in Wonsan city, Kangwon Province, described the fiction of the "POWs of the ROK army" invented by the present chief executive of South Korea as an unbearable insult to the defectors to the north. He said he was not taken prisoner, but voluntarily joined the People's Army. He went on to say: In December 1950 I served in the 35th regiment, the 5th division of the cursed Army of South Korea. When I was taken to a battlefield, I thought I should survive. So, I crossed the death line to join the People's Army in February 1951 and fought in the eastern sector of the front. My defection was not a response to anyone's call. I crossed the frontline of my own accord to defect to the DPRK.
An Chol hong, 67, in Chongjin city, North Hamgyong Province, had this to say: In the war the army was bound to meet death in any case. It was not until I joined the People's Army in November 1952 that I came to know well for whom I should fight. The People's Army was, indeed, a genuine army of the people fighting for the party, the leader, the country and the people. I was not subjected to any discrimination during my military service. If I were taken prisoner, higher education I received under the care of the DPRK would not have been possible, much less military service.
Kim In Son and An Chol Hong were unanimous in saying that they defected to the DPRK voluntarily, not after they had been taken prisoner nor complying with the demand of anyone. The South Korean authority's insistence on "exchange" of unconverted long-term prisoners of the north origin for those defectors to the north is the height of impudence, they added.
Talks between Choe Thae Bok and Peruvian political party leader
Pyongyang, April 13 (KCNA) -- Talks between Choe Thae Bok, secretary of the C.C., the Worker's Party of Korea, and Alberto Moreno, general secretary of the c.c., the Communist Party of Peru (Red Motherland), were held here today. At the talks both sides informed each other of their party activities and exchanged views on the issue of developing friendly relations between the two parties and a number of matters of mutual concern.
Kim Jong Il issues order to promote military ranks
Pyongyang, April 13 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Kim Jong Il issued an order to promote military ranks of KPA commanding officers on the threshold of Sun's Day. The order no. 00114 came on April 13, Juche 88 (1999).
It says the proud course of battles and enduring exploits of the KPA are associated with the great services rendered by KPA commanding officers who remain unfailingly loyal to the Worker's Party of Korea and the leader. WPK's trust in and expectation of KPA commanding officers are very great, it says, and expresses the firm belief that they will greatly help defend the Juche revolution by force of arms and build a powerful socialist nation.
According to the order, Ri Pyong Sam was promoted to a colonel general, Kwon Ok Phil and Kim Son Ju to lieutenant generals and Kim Tong In and 75 others to major generals.
S. Korea-U.S. "joint wartime reinforcement exercise"
Pyongyang, April 13 (KCNA) -- The spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK issued a statement today in the wake of the recent announcement of South Korea-U.S. "combined forces command" that there will be a week-long "joint wartime reinforcement exercise" under the conditions of a real war, beginning April 13.
The statement says: The "joint wartime reinforcement exercise" reportedly is mainly aimed at quickly hurling the U.S. forces to the Korean peninsula from the U.S. mainland and overseas military bases in case of "crisis" on the peninsula. Involved in the "exercise" will be the U.S. forces and the South Korean Army, more than 13,000 men in all. According to the U.S.-drawn "operation plan 5027" for a war of aggression on the DPRK, the U.S. is supposed to bring 400,000 troops, 200 warships and 1,600 warplanes in and around the peninsula.
The U.S. is now trying to practice it through maneuvers. It has hitherto staged the exercise of introducing its reinforcement into the peninsula from overseas through a mock warfare by computer. Now the United States is staging maneuvers of armed forces. This means the U.S., having defined the provocation of a war of aggression against the DPRK as an established fact, is putting operation and preparations for it into practice in real earnest. The U.S. military scheme to stifle the DPRK by force of arms is getting pronounced as the days go by.
The U.S. held an exercise for evacuation of U.S. government and military personnel to Japan from South Korea between March 25 and 28, simulating an "emergency on the Korean peninsula." this move as ill-boding as the current exercise shows that the U.S. script of war of aggression has been finished and that its implementation is near at hand.
This is a flagrant violation of the New York joint statement and the agreed framework in which the U.S. promised not to use armed forces including nuclear weapons nor to threaten to use them against the DPRK. With the Kosovo incident as an occasion, the U.S. is keeping its forces in South Korea and Japan on the alert and in preparedness for prompt action and staging the joint wartime reinforcement exercise, prompted by a foolish intention to put pressure and dispirit us.
This is a mistake, indeed.
If the U.S. tries to test the logic of strength against the DPRK as it does in Iraq and Kosovo, it will be a reckless suicidal act leading to irrevocable disgrace and destruction. Our army and people who regard the dignity and sovereignty of the nation as their lifeblood are firmly determined and fully prepared not to miss the opportunity again, if the aggressors unleash war.