Festival for Japan-Korea friendship and world peace
Tokyo, July 27 (KNS-KCNA) -- A festival for Japan-Korea friendship and world peace was held in Tokyo on July 25.
The chairman of the steering committee for the festival said that preparations for overseas aggression, including the adoption of a set of laws concerning the updated "Japan- U.S. Defense Cooperation Guidelines," are being stepped up in Japan and slanders and calumnies on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are becoming all the more undisguised.
He called for building genuine friendly relations with a correct understanding of the DPRK.
A lecture titled "the falsehood of 'theory on humanitarian bombing' of Yugoslavia" was given at the festival.
Colorful art performances were given by Japanese art troupes and the Korean song and dance troupe in Tokyo.
Korean women do their bit to build powerful nation
Pyongyang, July 29 (KCNA) -- July 30 is the 53rd anniversary of the promulgation of the law on sex equality in Korea.
Since the promulgation of the law the Korean women have become full-fledged mistress of the country freed from subjugation and shackles of feudalism.
From the very beginning of the building of new Korea they have performed an important role in politics, economy, culture and all other spheres of social life.
The women accounted for 20.1 percent of the deputies elected last year to the 10th Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK.
Many women including Rim Kyong Suk, Minister of Finance, and Han Suk Hyon, chairperson of the Haeju City Co-op Farm management committee, hold important posts of state economic organs.
Master Choe Sung Bok, head of a research room of the Aeguk Compound Microbiological Center of the Academy of Sciences who is also Labour Heroine, Doctress Kim Sun Ok, associate professor of the Power Machine Faculty of Kim Chaek University of Technology, and many other women scientists have achieved big successes in their researches greatly conducive to making the national economy Juche-oriented, modern and scientific.
Kim Il Sung Prize winner Pak Mi Song who wrote words of songs "Kimjongilia," "Native home in secret camp on Mt. Paektu" and so on, People's Artiste O Mi Ran of the April 25 Film Studio and other renowned women in the fields of literature and arts fully display their artistic talents, enjoying love from the people.
Kye Sun Hui, Kim Kwang Suk, Ri Pun Hui and Yu Sun Bok who are the People's Sportswomen, and other sportswomen demonstrated the honor of the country by winning gold medals in international games.
Woman pilot of passenger plane Song Un Hui of the Korean General Civil Aviation Administration has carried out her international flight missions for over 20 years since her twenties, winning admiration both from people at home and abroad.
There are not a few women general officers and military commanders in the Korean People's Army such as Jon Ku Gang and Thae Son Hui.
Many women were awarded the titles of the DPRK heroine, labour heroine, twice labour heroine for their devoted service to the party, the revolution, the fatherland and the people.
KCNA on war fever in S. Korea
Pyongyang, July 29 (KCNA) -- The "Defence Minister" of South Korea, Jo Song Thae, recently made much fuss about someone's "military threat" while answering an "interpolation" about the defence policy, according to a report.
His utterances, escalating tensions in the Korean peninsula, are nothing but an impudent sophism to mislead public opinion to justify their provocation of a war of aggression on the north.
His repeated ballyhoo about "military threat" from the north since he took office fully shows his bellicosity as a servant executing the war policy of the hypocritical "people's government".
Never should it go unnoticed that he laid stress on deterring war in the Korean peninsula and ensuring "victory" in emergencies by establishing the "South Korea-U.S. joint defense system" at "top-level".
The U.S. colonial servants' remarks about the system prove how wild they are running to kill fellow countrymen hand in glove with their U.S. master.
The withdrawal of the U.S. troops from South Korea is a precondition for the settlement of the Korean issue.
Unpardonable are the anti-national utterances of the South Korean warmongers about "deterrent force" and the establishment of the "South Korea-U.S. joint defense system" at "top-level" today with a new millennium just at hand.
We will deal a fatal blow at the provocateurs and emerge victorious.
Equipment for development of drinking water presented
Pyongyang, July 29 (KCNA) -- The United Nations Children's Fund presented equipment for the development of drinking water for children to the DPRK.
A presentation ceremony took place in Pyongyang on July 28.
Present there were Dilawar Ali Kahn, resident representative of the UNICEF office here, and office members.
Jo Nam Ryong, vice-Minister of City Management, and officials concerned were present there.
Speeches were made and a donation paper was handed at the ceremony.
Then, participants looked round the equipment.
Pyongyang Koryo Hotel
Pyongyang, July 29 (KCNA) -- The Pyongyang Koryo Hotel is one of the remarkable buildings in Changgwang Street in the middle of Pyongyang.
The hotel, which was built in 1985, is characterized by a unique architectural style, with the 45-storey twin buildings.
The two buildings are linked together by the corridor on the 34th floor and their uppermost floors are round-shaped.
The buildings, 140 metres high each, look magnificent and give an admirable symmetrical effect. The outside of the buildings is decorated with single-colored tiles. But they vary in color when bathed in sunrays. The middle parts of the buildings are finished in colored glass.
The entrance hall of the hotel is linked together by two buildings, the ceiling in its middle part being glass-roofed in cowl type. Through the glass-roof one can see the weather conditions without going outside and view the starry night.
Built over a total building area of 84,000 square metres, the hotel has hundreds of guest rooms, as well as different sizes of dining rooms, halls for banquet and interview, movie halls, amusement rooms and shops. The halls and rooms are unique in structure, decoration and color.
On the first and second floors of the left building are several large restaurants in which the ceiling and walls are furnished with looking-glass.
The two buildings are respectively topped by a revolving restaurant which slowly go round once an hour. Therefore, one can command a bird's-eye view of the city in his seat.
The hotel is provided with international telegraph and telephone services and other welfare facilities including air-conditioners and automatic extinguishers. It has also various fountains and indoor and outdoor gardens.
Kim Il Sung's reminiscences published in Bulgaria
Pyongyang, July 29 (KCNA) -- Vol. 1 of part I the anti-Japanese revolution from the President Kim Il Sung's reminiscences "With the Century" was published in the Narodna Tribuna Publishing House of Bulgaria on July 23.
The publishing house in its preface wrote that it published the reminiscences on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of his passing away all his life was run through with the history of revolutionary struggle for independence, peace, socialism and reunification of the Korean nation.
S. Korea-Japan joint naval exercise planned
Pyongyang, July 29 (KCNA) -- The South Korean authorities and the Japanese reactionaries announced on Tuesday a plan to carry out a joint naval exercise in the waters between the Jeju Island and Kyushu, Japan, from August 4 to 5, according to a radio report from Seoul.
This maneuver will involve destroyers and fighters of various types of the "Maritime Self-Defence Force" from the Japanese side and warships and helicopters from the South Korean side.
The South Korean authorities claim this exercise is aimed to "boost bilateral military interaction and cooperation" for a peaceful purpose, but it is, in essence, a criminal joint military exercise intended to strengthen military "cooperation" between Japan and South Korea under the simulated conditions of an actual war.
August 15 events calls press conference
Pyongyang, July 29 (KCNA) -- The south headquarters for the promotion of the 99 Grand Pro-Reunification Festival and the 10th pan-national rally called a press conference in Seoul on July 27 on the occasion of the 46th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice Agreement, a South Korean newspaper said.
The headquarters held that to prevent the outbreak of the second Korean war the U.S. and Japanese moves for a war should be checked and a peace agreement be inked between the DPRK and the U.S., urging the United States to drop the "operation plan 5027-98".
It called upon the authorities to ensure the successful holding of the '99 Grand pro-reunification festival and the 10th pan-national rally, events to be held jointly by Koreans from the south, the north and abroad on August 15.
Songdowon International Children's Camp opens
Pyongyang, July 29 (KCNA) -- Children from different countries have begun their pleasant camp life at the Songdowon International Children's Camp in Wonsan city on the east coast of Korea.
Participating in the entrance ceremony on Wednesday were Chinese, Russian, Tanzanian and Korean schoolchildren.
They placed a floral basket and bunches of flowers in the name of the camping corps before the statue of the president Kim Il Sung standing at the camp.
A report and speeches were made at the ceremony which began with the playing of "Song of international friendship camping."
The campers will spend happy and joyous days conducting various interesting activities such as maritime physical culture, artistic performances and amusements and sightseeing tour of different places.
This camp was inaugurated in summer of Juche 82 (1993).
Japan's approval of criminal bill
Pyongyang, July 29 (KCNA) -- Rodong Sinmun today runs a signed commentary lashing out at Japan for passing a bill on designating "Hinomaru" and "Kimigayo" as their national flag and national anthem through a full-dress session of the House of Representatives.
The commentary observes:
This means the Japanese reactionaries are fully ready for overseas aggression not only in military and legal aspects but in ideological and spiritual aspects.
In the past the Japanese militarists brought the Asian people horrible death, misfortunes, sufferings and calamities, flying "Hinomaru" and singing "Kimigayo."
Recalling that "Hinomaru" and "Kimigayo" are a symbol of Japanese imperialism and a living history of militarist Japan, the commentary points out:
The adoption of a legislation on them is a clear indication that the Japanese militarists' overseas aggression has almost become a reality.
The revived Japanese militarism is ready to launch Asian reinvasion any time, flying "Hinomaru" and singing "Kimigayo."
But, the aggressors are bound to meet a miserable end.
If the Japanese reactionaries take the road of overseas aggression at any cost, they will see "Hinomaru" thrown into a ditch and hear "Kimigayo" sung as a funeral song of a defeated nation.
S. Korean ruler's double-dealing tactics lambasted
Pyongyang, July 29 (KCNA) -- Papers here today carry signed commentaries lashing out at the crafty double-dealing tactics of the ruling quarters of the self-proclaimed "people's government" of South Korea to arrest the massive advance of the workers for vital rights and democratic freedom.
The present South Korean chief executive at recent negotiations with the "Korean Confederation of Trade Unions" and the "Federation of Korean Trade Unions" accepted the three-point demand made by representatives of labour circles such as the release of the arrested workers and stop to police search for those on the want list, a severe punishment of unjust labour administrators and a probe into the truth behind the case of inducing the Mint Company Trade Union to strike.
A commentary of Rodong Sinmun says:
The chief executive of South Korea, who had issued fascist repressive orders one after another, saying all demands of workers should be settled through the three-party negotiations of the "Labour-Management-Government Committee", accommodated the demand of workers this time, behind which his ulterior intention is hidden.
He intends to calm down the anti-"government" sentiments of the South Korean people which are daily mounting owing to the case of "prosecution's" inducing the mint company trade union to strike following the April-may general strike of workers, and gain time at whatever cost to bridge over the serious ruling crisis.
If he truly wanted to accept the demands of workers even a little, he should have released the arrested workers unconditionally and stopped the police search for those on the want list as "promised" by him earlier.
But he has not taken any measure till now. And he went the length of saying "he would consider lenient punishment".
The same can be said of a "severe punishment of unjust labour administrators".
It is a day dream to expect a fair solution to the issue from the authorities and businessmen, the same exploiters.
An introduction of the "special prosecution system" and "probe into state policy" are under discussion in the "National Assembly" to look into the truth behind the case of "prosecution's" inducing the mint company trade union to strike. There is, therefore, no reason for the chief executive to claim that credit for it goes to himself.
His "promise" made to the workers is no more than a sheer deception.
The lingering desire and expectation for the ruling quarters of the "people's government" is like poison, and for the workers to give up their struggle halfway means death.
Minju Joson says the double-dealing tactics of fascist repression and appeasement and deception is a trite ruling method of the present chief executive. If the South Korean workers waver in face of fascist repression or give up their struggle halfway, taken in by honeyed words, they will not win the right to existence and democracy, stresses the paper.
Japanese moves for overseas aggression assailed
Pyongyang, July 29 (KCNA) -- Rodong Sinmun in a signed commentary today assails the Japanese reactionaries' moves for overseas aggression which are becoming more dangerous in all aspects with each passing day.
Noticeable in these moves are beefing up of the air operation forces and actions to introduce mid-air refueling tankers and realize the overseas dispatch of the "Self-Defence Forces".
The Japan Defense Agency is planning to deploy 130 "F-2" support fighters to be installed with mid-air refueling devices.
This fighter is capable of operating within the radius of 800 km. When installed with the mid-air refueling device, it can drastically increase its radius of action.
The Japanese reactionaries are also going ahead with the project to introduce large-sized and long distance transport planes.
Last June the Japan Defense Agency sent fighters of the air "SDF" abroad for a military operation drill.
What merits attention is that they are becoming more undisguised in military maneuvers aimed at overseas aggression.
Early in July, Japan's ground "SDF" staged a landing operation drill in a coastal area of Hokkaido with the mobilization of the maritime "SDF's" large-sized transport vessel "Osumi".
It is another dangerous move for overseas aggression that the Japanese reactionaries are openly pushing ahead with the retrogressive revision of the present constitution and the distribution of the draft "explanation" of the Japanese government about the participation of the local authorities and private businesses in a war "in the event of emergencies" surrounding Japan, following the adoption of the legislation on the updated "guidelines".
The Japanese reactionaries are attaching top priority to the reinvasion of Korea in their overseas aggression.
Their hue and cry over the DPRK's "nuclear threat" and "missile threat" is intended to find an excuse for reinvasion and mount a preemptive attack on the DPRK.
If the Japanese militarist forces recklessly launch an overseas aggression as they did in the past, they will be burnt to death in the flames kindled by them.
First woman general officer of KPA
Pyongyang, July 29 (KCNA) -- Jon Ku Gang is the first woman general officer of the Korean People's Army.
She has served in the KPA as an army surgeon for nearly 50 years.
General Secretary Kim Jong Il sent her a 70th birthday table on July 21.
She was born in the family of a boatman in the period of the Japanese imperialist rule, but she studied medical science at Kim Il Sung University after the liberation of the country.
When the war broke out in June, 1950, she volunteered to go to the front.
She saved many soldiers as a surgeon at a field hospital under a rain of bullets and shells during the Fatherland Liberation War.
She was recalled to the university on the order of the supreme commander at a time when the war was at its height.
She rejoined the KPA after her graduation.
After the war, she has devoted herself to medical service in the army in the same spirit and mettle as she did during the war.
She worked as director of an army hospital from the beginning of the 1960s and now as director of the General Hospital of the Army.
She was the first to receive the military rank of Major General of the Korean People's Army on April 25, 1992.
She is also deputy to the Supreme People's Assembly, Labour Heroine and merited Doctress.
A Korean feature film "My Happiness" represents heroine Jon Ku Gang who worked devotedly for the party and the leader, the country and the people.
June to be followed by July
Pyongyang, July 29 (KCNA) -- Ri Chun Sok, professor of history in South Korea, published an article titled "June is to be followed by July," said Seoul-based radio Voice of National Salvation.
The title is not a phrase meaning mere flow of time but implies a serious lesson and strong warning that provocateurs are to come in for punishment and ruin, he said.
Recalling that the U.S. schemed to realize its domination over the whole Korean peninsula from the very day of its occupation of South Korea, he said that the June 25 war against the north was a great misfortune which was imposed upon the Korean people by the United States.
Although 49 years have passed since then, the U.S. ambition for aggression on the north is growing stronger, the article said, and went on:
The United States still remains an aggression force and a target of damnation and hatred of the Korean nation.
The U.S. considered the war with the north in the 1950s to be quite a sure and easy job, but the DPRK was a rival it misjudged.
Because the north had invincible and iron-willed commander Kim Il Sung who stood in the van of the war for defending justice and a strong army and people who were ready to devote their lives to the defense of the country.
The U.S. failed in every battle because it misjudged the DPRK. From that time on July has been marked as the month of victory in which the north punished the provocateurs mercilessly and the month in which the United States sustained a crushing defeat for the first time in history.
The war victory achieved by Kim Il Sung in July is being brilliantly exalted by Marshal Kim Jong Il in history with his great politics of giving priority to the army.
His politics is defending and glorifying the dignity of the nation and socialism in defiance of the western policy of isolation and suffocation.
DPRK delegation leaves for Geneva
Pyongyang, July 29 (KCNA) -- a DPRK delegation headed by vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Kye Gwan left Pyongyang today to participate in the DPRK-U.S. talk and four-way talks Geneva.
The delegation was seen off by O Song Chol, vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, at the airport.
Japan's attempt to transport plutonium through Caribbean
Pyongyang, July 29 (KCNA) -- The DPRK holds that the just call of the governments and the peoples in the Caribbean for ensuring security and protecting the ecological environment in the region should be respected in any case, stated the spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry today answering the question put by KCNA as regards the statement recently issued by heads of government of 14 Caribbean countries at the 20th CARICOM regular summit denouncing Japan for attempting to transport nuclear fuel through the Caribbean Sea.
Recalling that Japan is going to ship about 450 kg of plutonium from Britain and France to Japan via the Caribbean and the Panama Canal, he noted:
It is a justifiable demand to save the destiny of millions of people in the region who depend on the Caribbean Sea for their living and prevent the catastrophic pollution of ecological environment.
Japan has kept shipping nuclear material under the cloak of "fuel for nuclear power plants". This is intended to push in full gear with nuclear weaponization and the conversion of Japan into a military power in a bid to realize the old dream of the "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere".
The Japanese authorities are now vociferating about the "threat" from the DPRK, insisting that its launch of a satellite for a peaceful purpose is a "launch of a ballistic missile". It is, after all, designed to find an excuse to achieve that objective.
This move of Japan to become a nuclear power by shipping a large quantity of plutonium from other countries and stockpiling it has now come in for strong protest and condemnation by the world.