Letter and gift to Kim Jong Il from Sudanese President
Pyongyang, May 4 (KCNA) - General Secretary Kim Jong Il received a personal letter and a gift from Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir. The letter and gift were handed to Foreign Minister of the DPRK Paek Nam Sun on May 3 by Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail on a visit to Korea.
ARF 63 years old
Pyongyang, May 4 (KCNA) -- May 5 marks the 63rd anniversary of the foundation of the Association for the Restoration of the Fatherland (ARF), a mass revolutionary organization. While leading the anti-Japanese armed struggle to liberate the country from the Japanese colonial rule, the President Kim Il Sung called an inaugural meeting of the association on May 5, Juche 25 (1936) and published "the ten-point programme of the ARF," "rules of the ARF " and "the inaugural declaration of the ARF".
The ARF was the first general anti-Japanese united national front and a powerful underground revolutionary organization, for uniting as one all the anti-Japanese patriotic forces at home and abroad and ensuring a unified leadership over them. With its foundation, the movement of the anti-Japanese united national front could develop more organizationally and systematically on a nationwide scale in close combination with the anti-Japanese armed struggle and the mass foundation for the revolution expand and strengthen on a full scale. It also made it possible to make more organized preparations for founding the party and expand its organization deep into the homeland.
Since its foundation the ARF had played a significant role in the struggle of the Korean people to liberate the country and achieve the victory of the revolution, performing enduring feats. Indeed, the ARF was a brilliant fruition of President Kim Il Sung's Juche-oriented idea of great national unity and an immortal banner encouraging the entire fellow countrymen to the unity.
IFRC foundation anniversary marked
Pyongyang, May 4 (KCNA) -- The central committee of the DPRK Red Cross Society sponsored a film show on Monday to mark the 80th anniversary of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Invited to it were head Sten Swedlund and members of a delegation of the IFRC which is staying in Korea for its assistance to the DPRK. Choe Chun Hyon, vice-chairman of the c.c. Of the DPRK Red Cross Society, and other officials concerned were present. The participants saw a film on the activities of the IFRC.
KCTU representatives visit different places
Pyongyang, May 4 (KCNA) -- The representatives of the South Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), Ri Kyu Jae, who is vice-president of the confederation and chairman of its unification committee, and Jo Jun Ho, who is member of the committee, visited different places and met with working people of all walks of life from May 1 to May 3.
They visited the tomb of King Tangun in Kangdong county on the outskirts of Pyongyang, on May 3. On May 1 they visited the Sangwon Cement Complex and went round Rungna Islet and Moran Hill where working people of Pyongyang were enjoying their pleasant holiday with their families. They also looked round the historical and cultural remains and relics on Mt. Myohyang and saw an acrobatic performance at the Pyongyang Circus.
On May 2 the second working-level talks were held between members of the central committee of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea and the representatives of KCTU.
Probe into "case of people's revolutionary party" urged
Pyongyang, May 4 (KCNA) -- A declaration of 1,000 people demanding a probe into the "case of the people's revolutionary party" was made public in Seoul recently, the South Korean newspaper Hangyore said. The "case of the people's revolutionary party" was a plot faked up by military dictator Park Chung Hee to check the people's struggle for independence, democracy and reunification. 8 patriots were killed in April 1975 on charges of involvement in the "case." The declaration urged the authorities to probe the truth behind the "case," contending that "the miserable history in which the innocent people were killed by torture and fabrication should no longer be buried in oblivion."
U.S. military strikes against Yugoslavia
Pyongyang, May 4 (KCNA) -- The United States is a heinous criminal who bred and orchestrated the tragic crisis in Yugoslavia, observes Rodong Sinmun in a commentary on Monday.
The commentary continues: Military strikes against Yugoslavia are part of the vicious and crafty moves of the United States to materialize its ambition for world supremacy.
Through the strikes the United States is intending to demonstrate its might as a "sole superpower" and further consolidate its control over Europe.
Projecting itself as a "sole superpower" at the end of the Cold War, the United States demanded all countries and nations around the world act under its baton. It needed countries to fall prey to it in order to convince other countries that any countries defying its brigandish demands are bound to pay a "dear price". Iraq and Yugoslavia were chosen as its victims.
It is the U.S. strategy towards Europe to establish control over Europe taking hold of NATO.
Hence, the United States has organized and spearheaded the current NATO's military strikes against Yugoslavia.
Military attack on Yugoslavia is also related to the political and economic crisis that has become worsened in the United States with each passing day.
The United States is wholly to blame for the tragic situation in Yugoslavia.
Japan's undisguised ambition for overseas aggression
Pyongyang, May 4 (KCNA) -- Bills for the implementation of the "Guidelines for Japan-U.S. Defence Cooperation" were adopted at the house of representatives of Japan, the keynote of which is the "bill on ensuring security in emergencies in surrounding areas". This bill sounds an alarm for what a perilous ambition the Japanese reactionaries have. Commenting on this, Rodong Sinmun in a signed commentary today says: The "insurance of security in emergencies in surrounding areas " on the lips of the Japanese reactionaries is an intrigue to cover up their true colors as aggressors.
The "Guidelines for Japan-U.S. defence Cooperation" which were worked out in 1978 mainly provided for cooperation between the "Self-Defence Forces" and U.S. troops in case of a "military attack" on Japan. But the "bill" which was adopted this time stipulates that the scope of Japan-U.S. defence cooperation shall be drastically expanded into military actions to "cope with emergencies in surrounding areas of Japan".
The above-mentioned "surrounding areas of Japan" include vast areas in Asia and the pacific. This means, in fact, that all institutional machines have been made for the "SDF" to come out for overseas aggression without a hitch on the pretext of "cooperation" with the U.S. forces and "insurance of Japan's security." The Japanese reactionaries are talking about Japan-U.S. Military cooperation in "non-combat areas" and "rear" but their proposed cooperation is little different from their participation in a modern war which rages both on the front and in the rear.
They regard the DPRK as the first target of their overseas aggression.
We can never tolerate the Japanese reactionaries' reckless moves to stifle the DPRK in collusion with the U.S.
Publication anniversary of Kim Jong Il's work marked
Pyongyang, May 4 (KCNA) -- A meeting was held in Pyongyang on May 3 to mark the 15th anniversary of the publication of General Secretary Kim Jong Il's famous work "On Further Improving the Work of the Trade Unions."
Kim Jong Il in this historic letter to the participants in the national training course for trade union workers on May 3, Juche 73 (1984) gave a flawless scientific exposition of ideas and theories of trade unions, including their character, mission, aim, tasks, principle and method of activity.
He made it clear that the trade unions, mass political organizations of the working class, should educate and remold workers and unionists to get them united around the party closely and defend and help it in every way in the revolutionary struggle and construction work.
Ryom Sun Gil, chairman of the c.c., the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea, in his report mentioned that this work has proved its worth in putting the work of trade unions onto a new higher stage.
He noted that the trade unions were developed into organizations based on pure and clean monolithic ideology and the spirit of defending the leader devotedly and communist and collectivist way of life have been highly displayed among unionists with function and role of trade unions, organizations for ideological education, heightened considerably.
He stressed that all trade unions should conduct a vigorous ideological education to train the unionists to be absolute worshippers, steadfast defenders and thorough implementers of the great Kim Jong Il's idea and to imbue trade unions with the spirit of defending the leader devotedly.
Attending the meeting was secretary Kim Jung Rin of the C.C., the Worker's Party of Korea.
Glorious revolutionary history created by great man
Pyongyang, May 4 (KCNA) -- The last 5 years since the demise of the President Kim Il Sung are adorned with shining annals of a great revolutionary history that could hardly be created even in hundreds of years, said Rodong Sinmun on Monday. It went on: The revolutionary history created by the great Kim Jong Il in the last 5 years serves as treasures of eternal value in accomplishing the revolutionary cause of Juche.
This period is of great importance in the history of his revolutionary activities.
His revolutionary activities for the last more than 30 years are a glorious history in which he had led the Korean revolution together with President Kim Il Sung while the last five years are adorned with shining annals in which he has pulled through stern trials, shouldering upon himself all the heavy burdens of the country and the revolution.
During this period he has undergone all hardships that a revolutionary or a leader May suffer.
His revolutionary history is annals of total dedication and tireless efforts, which can be made only by a leader who is responsible for the destiny of the people.
In the last unforgettable five years not only the Korean people but also the world people expressed deep admiration for his greatness and the spirit of Juche Korea startled the world.
The DPRK won victory in the confrontation with the imperialist allied forces over the "nuclear suspicion," successfully carried on the "arduous march" and forced march, solemnly proclaimed the start of the building of a powerful nation and fully demonstrated the might of the people single-heartedly united behind the party and the leader. This has created a great sensation in the world.
The respected Kim Jong Il's greatness as a peerlessly great man with literary and military accomplishments and intense loyalty and filial piety and an able and tested veteran statesman of world stature is clearly proved by this stirring reality.
For having brilliantly decorated the closing years of the 1990s he is highly praised by the world revolutionary people as the "great sun who will lead the 21st century."
In the last 5 years the Korean people have keenly realized that it is the way of a worthy life for a revolutionary to hold Kim Jong Il in high esteem and deeply grasped the truth that we can emerge ever-victorious when we do everything his way.
United around him, we can defeat any formidable enemy and occupy any fortress on the way of socialist construction.
This is the most valuable truth the Korean people have learned in practice.
His revolutionary history serves as priceless treasures not only for the country and the nation but for humankind and as a cornerstone of eternal value for the revolution.
Key to peace on Korean peninsula
Pyongyang, May 4 (KCNA) -- The 5th round of the four-way talks for peace on the Korean peninsula closed without any substantial progress, except the fixing of the date for the next talks.
No progress has been made at the talks so far because the United States and South Korea persistently refused to discuss the most fundamental and essential issue of ensuring peace on the Korean peninsula, the main objective of the talks but insisted on discussion on unessential and offbeat issue. The DPRK has consistently called for withdrawal of the U.S. forces from South Korea, and it is an undeniable, very just demand.
The key to peace on the Korean peninsula is to get the U.S. forces withdrawn from South Korea. Korea was divided into north and south and underwent a tragic war in the 1950s, owing to the illegal military occupation of the south by the U.S. troops. It is also due to the U.S. forces present in South Korea that political and military confrontation has persisted and escalated in the state of an unstable cease-fire and a potential danger of a new war remains in Korea.
After Japan's defeat in August 1945, the United States shipped its troops into South Korea under the pretext of disarming the Japanese troops in September. But at that time the anti-Japanese war was already over and no Japanese army remained in South Korea to be disarmed. It was a historic fact and, accordingly the U.S. troops' stationing in South Korea was illegal from its start and they were not "liberators" but aggressors who replaced the Japanese imperialists.
The withdrawal of the U.S. troops is stipulated in the Korean armistice agreement signed between the DPRK and the United States but the latter has violated the agreement and torpedoed its implementation systematically till now. For example, the U.S. and South Korea signed a "mutual defense treaty," which is used as a playing card to refuse the discussion of the issue of U.S. forces' withdrawal from South Korea.
The treaty, concluded just after the Korean cease-fire, is an aggressive and treacherous treaty intended to annul the armistice agreement and provoke another war of aggression. It is an established fact that under the treaty the U.S. troops in South Korea have aggravated the situation on the Korean peninsula through war maneuvers of various forms and armed provocation's against the DPRK since the Korean war.
This clearly shows that the U.S. troops present in South Korea are a source of a war on the Korean peninsula and a main obstacle to its peaceful reunification.
All the facts evidently prove that it is no more than an armchair argument to discuss the issue of ensuring peace on the Korean peninsula, apart from the U.S. troops' withdrawal, which is the fundamental and essential issue.
S. Korean "Defence Minister's" bellicose remarks
Pyongyang, May 4 (KCNA) -- The South Korean "Defence Minister," Chon Yong Thaek, told a recent "monthly meeting" that "there is high possibility of the north continuing provocation through infiltration into the south this year, too," and "full military readiness should be maintained to cope with it."
In recent months he made a string of bellicose remarks getting on our nerves time and again. What was the gravest was his call for "strike at hardcore target in the north" made in a "report on policy reform of the defence ministry."
This is very serious and unpardonable, bellicose utterances fuelling inter-Korean military confrontation and driving the situation of the Korean peninsula to a phase of crisis.
"provocation through southward infiltration" is no more than a hypocritical, false propaganda of the South Korean war hawks intended to justify their anti-north war moves. In other words, it is a subterfuge to justify their possible surprise "strike" at the north. It is not fortuitous that Chon called for "strike" against the north when the U.S.-led NATO was escalating air raids on Yugoslavia.
The war hawks seek to make a preemptive strike against the DPRK with the Asian-style "NATO" based on the U.S.-Japan-South Korea military alliance as NATO attacks Yugoslavia in Europe. It is as clear as noonday that their argument about "strike against hardcore target" came from such criminal intention to contain the DPRK by "force."
To counter "strike" with strike is the unshakable will and determination of the people and servicemen of the DPRK.
Our strong retaliatory strike will lead those war hawks to destruction.
S. Korean people's struggle supported
Pyongyang, May 4 (KCNA) -- A solidarity struggle of the South Korean workers, peasants and students is actively supported in different parts of the North Korea.
Workers, farmers and students in Nampho and Phyongsong cities met to support the struggle.
The meetings described the mass struggle of the South Korean people as a strong protest against the U.S. policy of colonial enslavement and the trusteeship by the International Monetary Fund, as well as an eruption of grudge and rage against the South Korean ruling quarters. They also said that the mass struggle is a just struggle to carve out their destiny by their own efforts. They expressed full support for it.
They also called for more courageous mass struggle for the final victory in closer unity in face of vicious maneuverings on the part of the oppressors.
KCTU representatives leave Pyongyang
Pyongyang, May 4 (KCNA) -- The representatives of the South Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), Ri Kyu Jae, who is vice-president of the confederation and chairman of its unification committee, and Jo Jun Ho, who is member of the committee, left here today. Ri Jin Su, vice-chairman of the c.c. of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea, and officials concerned saw them off at the airport.
WFP donor mission arrives
Pyongyang, May 4 (KCNA) -- A donor mission of the World Food Programme led by Tun Myat, director of the resources and external relations division of the WFP, arrived here today by air. It consists of representatives of Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, the United States, Switzerland, Sweden and Australia.