Joint New Year editorial supported abroad
Pyongyang, January 13 (KCNA) -- The People's Front of Workers, Peasants and Students of Peru, the Communist Party of Peru (Red Motherland), the Peru-Korea Institute of Culture and Friendship, the National Association of Writers and Artists of Peru and other political parties and social organizations in Peru issued a joint statement on January 4 supporting the joint New Year editorial of the newspapers Rodong Sinmun, Joson Inmingun and Chongnyon Jonwi under the headline "glorify this year, the WPK's 55th anniversary, with signal victory in the crucible of greatly increased activity of Chollima."
The statement warmly congratulated the Korean people on the brilliant successes made in building a powerful nation last year, and noted that the successes were possible because they had the ever-victorious iron-willed commander Marshal Kim Jong Il as their supreme leader, rallied close around him.
The statement called upon the governments, parliaments, political parties, organizations and individuals of all countries and international organizations to conduct more brisk international solidarity movement for an epochal turn in the struggle for the independent and peaceful reunification of Korea this year.
The chairman of the Austrian Jurists' Committee for the Defence of Democracy and Human Rights in South Korea issued a statement on January 6 supporting the joint New Year editorial.
In the statement he expressed conviction that the Korean people would achieve fresh successes in socialist construction in the year 2000 under the wise leadership of the respected Marshal Kim Jong Il.
Madcap arms buildup in S. Korea assailed
Pyongyang, January 13 (KCNA) -- The "arms buildup plan" for the new millennium worked out by the South Korean "Ministry of National Defense" is an extremely serious war move to put spurs to the modernization of the "ROK" army and overpower the north in a bid to realize its ambition to invade the north, observes Minju Joson today in a signed commentary.
Recently, the "ministry" decided to spend 5.3 trillion won for "arms buildup for the year 2000."
It was reported that this biggest-ever military budget was aimed to introduce 20 types of sophisticated weapons, including missiles capable of "striking main targets of the north," large submarines and transport ships.
It is a serious development that the "ministry" unveiled "its arms buildup plan" for the new millennium targeted against the north in the wake of such a war confab as the "security meeting" held in South Korea at the outset of the year where the chief executive was foolhardy enough to describe national reunification as an issue to be handled in the distant future, the commentary notes, and goes on:
The South Korean economy is now in the grip of total bankruptcy, hardest hit by several years of the IMF mandate.
This notwithstanding, the South Korean authorities are not spending money to save the people from dire destitution, but wasting the money collected from them to step up preparations for a war against the north to hurt fellow countrymen.
It is obvious to everyone that this predatory act is driving the South Korean people into a quagmire of death.
The South Korean rulers seek a way out in a war of aggression against the north but it will only hasten their total self-destruction.
Japan's moves to deploy airborne refueling aircraft denounced
Pyongyang, January 13 (KCNA) -- The Japan Defense Agency's recent final decision to introduce and deploy airborne refueling aircraft has come in for criticism by a signed commentary of Rodong Sinmun today.
Japanese Kyodo said the recent step taken by the Japan Defense Agency to place the procurement of airborne refueling aircraft high on the military budget for the fiscal 2001 was connected with "missile launch by North Korea" and "mysterious ship incident."
This indicates that the decision of the Japan Defense Agency presupposes a forestalling attack against the DPRK, the commentary notes, and goes on:
The Japanese reactionaries' preoccupation is to realize their dream of "Greater East Asia Coprosperity Sphere" which they failed to do in the past.
Japan's moves to become a military power and its all other military maneuvers are to serve this aim.
Their next target is to seize other countries.
The Japanese reactionaries consider it most urgent to stage a comeback to Korea in order to achieve the aim.
Now that test flight of the latest-type fighters such as F-2 is now going in full gear, if they are refueled by airborne refueling aircraft, they can carry out whatever air operation against the Korean peninsula from any area of Japan.
Their move to deploy those aircraft is a green light for reinvasion of Korea. Japanese militarists' comeback to Korea is in the offing.
But, this can never frighten the DPRK.
The Japanese reactionaries' war hysteria will only lead them to self-destruction.
Folk games in winter
Pyongyang, January 13 (KCNA) -- The Korean children are toughening their bodies and minds through a variety of games.
Such traditional games include top-spinning, kite-flying, sledding, rope-skipping, position-keeping, toy pin-wheeling, seek-and-hide, cat's cradling and watermelon-picking.
In top-spinning, the winner is determined by whose top is set in motion long. There are various forms of tops. This game cultivates children's skill and inspires them to develop their spirit of inquiry.
In sledding, vehicles with runners move by sliding over ice at speed, go round snow-obstacles or run in groups, with sleds connected in a line.
Rope-skipping is an exercise of the whole body. It not only strengthens children's bodies but also improves their sense to rhythmical movements from childhood and enriches their emotion through jumping over the rope to the accompaniment of music.
There are other interesting games, including number-counting with sticks on an abacus, and cat's cradling.
These folk games are now encouraged and developed among Korean children.
Import of live-stock products protested in S. Korea
Pyongyang, January 13 (KCNA) -- The South Korean stock breeding trade union on January 9 released a statement protesting against the authorities' anti-social projected import of live-stock products, which leaves the stockbreeders high and dry, demanding the resignation of the "Minister of Agriculture and Forestry," a radio report from Seoul said.
The union said that the "Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry" gave instructions to increase the import and sale of live-stock products around the New Year, and denounced it as a traitorous act.
The union described the "government's" wire pulling of the projected import as unpardonable.
Moves to cover up genocide
Pyongyang, January 13 (KCNA) -- "The South Korea-U.S. Joint team to probe into the truth behind the Rogun-ri massacre" at a joint press conference on January 11 refused to probe into the massacre saying "there are only the claims of the victims but facts were not understood in other mass killings," according to a radio report from Seoul.
The U.S. has delayed probe into the case, saying "the investigation would take 6 months."
The South Korean authorities, yielding to the pressure from their master, agreed that they would not fix the time-limit for thorough-going investigation."
They also said that the declassified documents of the U.S. were not enough to probe the truth behind the killing of political prisoners at Taejon and Taegu prisons and that the existence of documents concerned in the military police and others should be confirmed.
Maintenance of staunch anti-imperialist spirit called for
Pyongyang, January 13 (KCNA) -- Only when the imperialists' challenge is met with the staunch anti-imperialist spirit and the strong independent force to the last can the revolutionary gains and the national sovereignty and dignity be safeguarded, stresses Rodong Sinmun today in a signed article.
It is important to see through the vulnerability of imperialists and not to be deceived by their bluff but courageously stand up against them, the paper says, and goes on:
To this end, the staunch anti-imperialist spirit should be maintained first of all.
Any nation without such spirit would become the weak though it has a great number of troops and sophisticated military equipment. Hence, staunch spirit is needed above all to fight against the imperialists to the last.
Maintaining this spirit would remove any illusion and fear of imperialism and decisively smash its arbitrary and aggressive acts getting all the more pronounced.
A driving force should be built up to meet the imperialists' challenge to the last.
No one can replace you in the anti-imperialist struggle to defend the revolutionary gains and national dignity and sovereignty.
The core of the driving force is the political force.
No force on earth can match the strength of the people united in one idea around the headquarters of the revolution. The strength of the people rallied as one is much more powerful than the latest military equipment.
The military force should be built up. To this end, it is important to increase the self-reliant defence capabilities, above all.
It is equally important to build an independent national economy.
Economic sanctions and pressure are the old methods employed by the imperialists. Therefore, a self-supporting national economy should be built to torpedo such moves.
Begging the imperialists for something will lead to self-destruction.
Korean people's slogans for this year
Pyongyang, January 13 (KCNA) -- New slogans were put forward in the joint editorial published on the New Year 2000 by Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Worker's Party of Korea, Joson Inmingun, the daily of the Korean People's Army , and Chongnyon Jonwi, the organ of the Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League.
They include "Glorify this year, the WPK's 55th anniversary, with signal victory in the crucible of greatly increased activity of Chollima " and "Let all of us become the heroes in the campaign to glorify the 55th anniversary of the Worker's Party of Korea ." The Korean people are all out to implement the challenging tasks proposed by the joint editorial in hearty response to those slogans calling for an all-out forward march to build a powerful nation.
The slogans reflect the WPK's firm will to glorify this year as a year of a signal advance in building a powerful nation.
The all-out forward march this year to significantly mark the WPK's 55th anniversary is a sacred struggle to fully demonstrate the invincibility of Korean-style socialism, which has been sustained in rigorous ordeals.
It is the resolution and plan of the great leader Kim Jong Il to turn socialist Korea into a strong, prosperous and happy country for the people in the near future.
Last year the Korean people advanced at a canter to build a powerful nation under his wise leadership.
Though the canter march last year made a breakthrough towards a turn in socialist construction, the economic conditions of Korea still remain difficult and the Korean people are faced with Herculean tasks.
The Korean people's struggle this year is a continuation of the canter march and a drive to make a leap forward in building an economically powerful nation.
The Korean people will work harder in the crucible of greatly increased activity of Chollima, determined to become heroes and heroines, and thus glorify this year as a year of a fresh leap forward, a year of an all-out advance in the powerful nation-building.