"Day of world solidarity with Palestinian people" was observed
Pyongyang, November 28 (KCNA) -- Minju Joson today dedicates a signed article to the "day of world solidarity with Palestinian people."
The Palestinian people have vigorously struggled to establish an independent state of Palestine as its capital amid full support and solidarity of the world progressive people and made a lot of progress in its course, the article says, and goes on:
Today they are firmly maintaining their stand, while energetically struggling for the realization of their cause.
Recently Palestine reclarified its will to declare an independent state of Palestine defying the obstructive maneuvers of Israel.
This is arousing unanimous support and sympathy of the world peaceloving people as well as the Arab people who hope for a fair solution of the Palestinian issue.
The Korean people hope the Palestinian people will achieve fresh success in their struggle for the final solution of the Palestinian issue in the future, too.
S. Koreans' struggle supported
Pyongyang, November 28 (KCNA) -- Rallies were held by workers of the Kim Jong Thae General Electric Locomotive Works and the Haeju Knited Goods Factory and members of the Haksan co-operative farm, Hyongjesan district, Pyongyang, to support the just patriotic struggle of the South Korean people against GIs' massacres.
Rodong Sinmun articles disclosing the truth about GIs' massacre in Rogun-ri were read out at the rallies.
Speakers called on the South Korean people to escalate their movement demanding a probe into the truth behind GIs' massacres and compensation for damage into an anti-U.S. resistance to drive the U.S. aggression forces out of South Korea and deal sledge-hammer blows to the South Korean rulers who try hard to hide the crimes of their master the U.S. This is the only way out for them to get rid of all miseries and sufferings, they added.
They on behalf of the people in the north extended full support to the just struggle of the South Korean people to get the U.S. withdrawn from South Korea.
IMF's mandate brings appalling disasters to S. Korea
Pyongyang, November 28 (KCNA) -- The propaganda department of the central committee of the National Democratic Front of South Korea (NDFSK) issued an indictment on November 24, 2 years after the South Korean economy was placed under the mandate of the IMF, according to a Seoul-based radio Voice of National Salvation.
The indictment cites facts to prove that the South Korean economy is on the verge of total bankruptcy and the people are in the worst destitution due to the unbridled economic aggression by the U.S.-manipulated IMF and the despicable sycophantic and traitorous acts of the self-proclaimed "people's government."
It continued:
The U.S. forced South Korea to carry out, among other things, financial restructuring through the IMF.
Acting upon this restructuring plan, the Kim Dae Jung group ordered the financial institutions including those banks which fell short of the eight percent of their optimum capital possessing rate fixed by the international settlement bank to suspend business or sold them to foreign capital, placing its banking market at the mercy of foreign financial speculators.
At least 270 financial institutions have proved insolvent and their banking business has been paralyzed under the IMF's mandate.
South Korean foreign debt amounts to 170 billion dollars and it totals over 220 billion dollars when the money its enterprises overseas borrowed from foreign countries is added to this, even according to an official announcement of the South Korean authorities.
As many as 53,000 enterprises have gone bankrupt over the past 2 years owing to the IMF-imposed "restructuring."
IMF-imposed lay-off and "restructuring" left the more than 8 million people, or two-thirds of the South Korean workers, jobless as of the end of April.
The number of the absolute poor reached more than 13 million, or 3 times that in 1997, and two-thirds of middle classes in the past joined the poor.
The people's income dropped, whereas the commodity prices shot up 11.1 percent over last year. Per capita tax this year reached 1.878 million won and it is expected to swell to 2 million won next year and 2.53 million won in 2002.
Charges for medical examination and hospitalization soared up to an average of 9 percent with the result that sick people are denied medical treatment.
An increasing number of school youth and children have to stay out of school temporarily or leave it, unable to pay school fees due to abject poverty caused by the IMF's mandate. Many poor families broke down due to this mandate.
This is also producing unheard of social evils. Last year witnessed a total of 1.59 million cases of crimes or daily average of 4,356.
The ever more undisguised high-handed practices of the U.S. and the IMF and the flunkeyist and traitorous acts of the Kim Dae Jung "government" have turned South Korea into a veritable living hell.
The only way of saving the economy from its total collapse and the people from dire poverty is to discard dependence upon outside forces, topple the existing "government," regain independence and build a self-supporting economy, the indictment stressed.
Delegation of Lao People's Revolutionary Party arrives
Pyongyang, November 28 (KCNA) -- A delegation of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party headed by Thongsing Thammavong, member of the political bureau of the central committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and chairman of its organizational commission, arrived here yesterday.
The delegation was met at the airport by Choe Thae Bok, alternate member of the political bureau and secretary of the central committee of the Worker's Party of Korea, and Khamkheng Sayakeo, ambassador of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, to the DPRK.