Kim Jong Il sends gift to Chinese President
Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Kim Jong Il sent a gift to President Jiang Zemin of the People's Republic of China.
The gift was handed to Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan on March 18 by DPRK Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun who is on a visit to China.
Greetings to Tunisian President
Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) -- Kim Yong Nam, President of the presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, sent a message of greetings to Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, President of the Republic of Tunisia, on March 19 on the occasion of the 44th National Day of Tunisia.
The message extended congratulations to the President, government and people of Tunisia on the National Day.
It wished the Tunisian people peace, development and well-being, expressing the belief that the friendly relations between Korea and Tunisia would develop on good terms.
Preparatory committees for Sun's Day formed abroad
Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) -- Inaugural meetings of preparatory committees for commemorating Sun's Day, the 88th anniversary of the birth of the President Kim Il Sung were held in Austria, India, Pakistan, Ecuador and France.
The meetings introduced the undying exploits performed by Kim Il Sung for the time and humankind and decided to commemorate Sun's Day as a grand political festival.
The meetings discussed action programs to commemorate the holiday of April with characteristics.
The inaugural meeting in India adopted an appeal to the progressive people of the world with a view to commemorating Sun's Day.
The meetings in India and Pakistan adopted letters to General Secretary Kim Jong Il.
U.S. troops' massacres of civilians condemned
Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) -- The Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement made public a statement on March 15, condemning the U.S. troops' massacres of civilians during the Korean War.
The recently disclosed materials on brutal murders are undeniable facts because they were verified by U.S. official reports and confidential documents and witnesses, the statement said, and pointed out:
The brutal massacres committed by the U.S. troops during the Korean War should be denounced as heinous criminal acts which grossly violated the international treaty and wartime regulations that ban targeting non-combatants.
The Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement, together with the progressive people of the world who defend human rights and love peace, brands the massacres by the U.S. troops as an unethical crime and calls for preventing their recurrence.
Tokyo metropolitan governor hit for anti-DPRK diatribe
Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) -- A spokeswoman for the central committee of the Korean Democratic Women's Union issued a statement to the press on sunday, condemning Tokyo metropolitan governor Shintaro Ishihara for letting loose a very provocative and bellicose diatribe against the DPRK.
The statement vehemently denounced Ishihara's blast as a vicious challenge insulting and deriding the dignity and sovereignty of Korea and an open war agitation inciting reinvasion of Korea.
The Korean women love peace more than anybody else and bear deep-rooted rancor and grudge against Japan, the statement said, warning that the Japanese reactionaries should know all the Korean women are full of the will to surely make Japan pay for the past crimes of the Japanese militarists.
If the Japanese authorities truly want to create an atmosphere of dialogue with the DPRK and improve DPRK-Japan relations, they should not tolerate and back the anti-DPRK rackets of such right-wing reactionaries as Ishihara but take a proper measure against it, stressed the statement.
Gift to Kim Jong Il from President Jiang Zemin
Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Kim Jong Il received a gift from Jiang Zemin, President of the People's Republic of China.
Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan on March 18 handed the gift to DPRK Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun on a visit to China.
The Chinese Foreign Minister said that the gift to General Secretary Kim Jong Il carried the hope that the Korean people under his leadership will achieve greater success through the vigorous second grand Chollima advance at the speed of Chollima.
Three-point charter for Korea's reunification supported
Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) -- Personages of political parties and organizations of different countries and international and regional organizations participated in the international signature campaign to support the three-point charter for the reunification of Korea in response to the call of the meeting of the executive committee of the International Liaison Committee for Reunification and Peace in Korea which was held in Paris in February.
The signature paper was signed by Blasco Hugo Fernandes, chairman of the Democratic Intervention of Portugal= Sean Garland, former general secretary of the Worker's Party of Ireland= Cris Coleman, spokesman for the central committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist)= Ann Rogers, delegate of the New Communist Party of Great Britain= Anders Kristensen, secretary of the Nordic Cooperation Committee for Friendship and Solidarity with the Korean People= the chairman of the Swiss Committee for Supporting Korea's Reunification= the general secretary of the Luxemburg-Korea Friendship Association= the general secretary of the Ireland-Korea Friendship Association= the chairman of the French Support and Action Committee for Korea's Independent and Peaceful Reunification= Guy Dupre, secretary general of the International Liaison Committee for Reunification and Peace in Korea= Robert Charvin, general secretary of the International Commission of Jurists for Democracy and Human Rights in South Korea= Willy Burgeon, chairman of the Wallon district council of Belgium= and Paulette Pierson, professor of the Libre University in Brussels, Belgium.
Considering the Korean people's three-point charter to be the most just and reasonable proposal and way of Korea's reunification, they sign the paper in support of the charter and in demand of the immediate withdrawal of the U.S. troops from South Korea so that the Korean people can solve their destinies independently and a durable peace be ensured on the Korean peninsula, it noted.
Struggle for independence against U.S. is only way out
Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) -- The grim realities of South Korea call on the people to turn out in the anti-U.S. struggle. The struggle for independence against the U.S. is the only way out for the South Korean people, Rodong Sinmun today says this in a signed article.
Recalling that the U.S. aggressor troops in South Korea have encroached upon the independence of the South Korean people and brought immeasurable misfortune, pain and disasters to them, the article goes on:
The U.S. should not be allowed to stay in South Korea any more. If the South Korean people are to achieve democracy and escape from disasters, they should drive the U.S. out of South Korea, first of all.
This is a bitter lesson they have drawn.
It is a day dream to expect democracy and the country's reunification while the U.S. aggressors are left in South Korea as ever.
The U.S. aggressors, chiefly responsible for the Korean division, have committed massacres, carried out aggression and war, brought all sorts of misfortune and pain to the people. If they are allowed to remain in South Korea, the South Korean people will meet more unspeakable disasters in the future.
Expecting any "protection" from the U.S. aggressors is as foolish an act as asking a wolf to protect sheep.
It is entirely just for the South Korean students and people to concentrate their struggle on them.
A struggle for independence against the U.S. represents a genuine patriotic banner all the patriotic democratic forces in South Korea should hold aloft. Anyone who loves the motherland and the nation and wishes the country's reunification should turn out in the struggle to regain the usurped independence and trampled-down dignity of the nation.
The U.S. had better go back home before being driven out of South Korea with disgrace by the fierce anti-U.S. resistance of the South Korean people, the article warns.
Japan's bid to seat on UNSC
Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) -- Japan's bid for the permanent membership of the UN Security Council is a mockery of the UN and an insult to human conscience, says Rodong Sinmun today in a signed commentary.
The commentary goes on:
The chief executive of Japan at a recent meeting with the President of the UN General Assembly said that the UNSC reform is not making rapid progress and if things go on like this, it may weaken the confidence of the international community in the UN. He asked the President to buckle down to the work for "expanding the framework" to realize Japan's bid to seat on the UNSC.
Japan is not in a position to talk about the international community's confidence in the UN.
Because Japan has always backed the U.S. in its highhanded and arbitrary practices in the international arena, following it like a shaggy dog.
There is a very strong reason in the assertion that Japan should not be allowed to seat on the UNSC.
Japan has not yet shaken off the ill-fame of an "enemy state." It is still listed as an "enemy" in the UN. Worse still, it dreams of overseas invasion, not peace. It has not made a formal apology for its past shameful crimes.
Many countries of the world despise Japan as a political dwarf.
Japan is well advised to drop its daydream and mind its own business.
Early repatriation of unconverted long-term prisoners called for
Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) -- All the compatriots are eagerly waiting for the repatriation of old Kim In So, Ham Se Hwan and Kim Yong Thae, unconverted long-term prisoners in South Korea, to their hometowns in the North Korea.
Their names are well known to the world.
Aged about 70, they barely keep body and soul together due to mental oppression and various diseases caused by more than 30 years of prison life in South Korea where they have no blood relations.
They were taken prisoner by the other belligerent party while fighting as soldiers of the Korean people's army during the past Korean War (June 1950-july 1953).
Their families and relatives in their hometowns are eager for their repatriation.
Kim In So's two daughters in their letters sent to the UN and other international organizations ardently called on them to make all efforts to realize the earliest possible repatriation of their father suffering from various diseases and hemiplegia symptoms caused by sequela of cerebral hemorrhage, to his hometown.
"I want to go back to the DPRK as early as possible so that I may spend the rest of my life in a free and stable atmosphere free from any mental and physical constraint," wrote Kim In So in a letter sent to the high commissioner of the UN commission on human rights.
Ham Suk Nyo, elder sister of Ham Se Hwan, who is now nearly 90, is ardently calling his name, saying that she wants to see her only younger brother.
Ham Se Hwan with 12 gunshot wounds on his body is left without any proper shelter. At a number of press interviews
He said that "he would have nothing to regret if he had a chance to visit the graves of his parents before his death."
Kim Ryong Je who has never seen his father Kim Yong Thae has waited for him for nearly 50 years.
Kim Yong Thae who lost his one eye during the past war is strongly demanding his repatriation, saying that he wants to see his son before his death as his other eye becomes weaker in sight as days go by.
A few days ago, the Korean Measure Committee for the Rescue of Unconverted Long-Term Prisoners in South Korea sent a letter to the South Korean Committee for the Promotion of Unconverted Long-Term Prisoners' Repatriation eagerly calling for its positive efforts for an earlier repatriation of the unconverted long-term prisoners who were taken prisoner during the war including Kim In So, Ham Se Hwan and Kim Yong Thae to the North Korea before the end of June.
Not only progressive humankind but the western world are more strongly pushing for their repatriation.
Kim Il Sung praised as great man born of heaven
Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) -- Vishwanath, secretary general of the Asian Regional Institute of the Juche Idea, on March 11 made public a statement headlined "Kim Il Sung, an unprecedentedly great sage" on the occasion of Sun's Day.
He said:
President Kim Il Sung was a great man born of heaven who was well-reputed and praised by people of different social standings in the east and the west and high-ranking politicians of even hostile countries for his broad view and high intelligence, personality and warm humanity which captivated all persons he met.
The bosom of great virtues of Kim Il Sung, a veteran statesman in the world, was that of infinite love embracing all people who value justice and truth and aspire after independence, transcending longitude and latitude, races and nations.
Frugality and free and easy character are his important personality as the leader of the people. He is a model leader of the people.
Stories about his popular style of work and noble attribute are still told among the people like a legend.
He will always live in the hearts of the Korean people as well as the progressive humankind of the world though the months and years go by.
Masses to mark Nirvana Day
Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) -- Masses were held at Buddhist temples across the country today in commemoration of Nirvana Day.
At masses speakers evinced their will to vigorously conduct patriotic practical activities to promote peace of the country and the great unity of the nation and accelerate national reunification by active solidarity with Buddhists in South Korea and overseas.
Attending the masses were clergymen from the central committee of the Korean Buddhists Federation and provincial, city and county committees under it, as well as monks and devotees.
Clear evidence of GIs' massacres
Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) -- Papers here continue carrying photographs on monstrous crimes committed by the U.S.
They were taken by a liaison officer of the command of the U.S. forces in the far east and "have recently been declassified" at the U.S. national archives.
These photographs clearly show to the world how brutally the U.S. aggression forces and their stooges massacred prisoners and patriots in prisons across South Korea before and during the Korean War (June 1950 - July 1953).
One of them shows patriots and people being tied to posts in the execution ground. There are also a photo showing hateful soldiers of the "ROK" army ready to kill them under the command of a U.S. officer, and another photo showing its soldiers guiltless civilians into a crater to bury them alive under the command of a U.S. officer.
These photographs irrefutably prove that the U.S. directly manipulated all the massacres committed in South Korea.
There are many photographs that show too horrible scenes to see.
Among them are a photo showing soldiers' rifles targeted at the heads of the people, trampling down their backs after forcing them to lie flat, a photo showing cursed man-hunters firing a volley at many patriots who had been thrown into a crater, a photo showing the bodies of the people who died with towering grudge, photos of soldiers shooting to death survivors among dead bodies and a photo showing a cutthroat cutting a man's head off with a sickle.
Looking at these photographs, the readers are unanimous that they can hardly repress bitter hatred against the U.S., and brand these ferocious ogres as the sworn enemy of the Korean nation who cannot live under the same sky.
Greatly angered by their monstrous atrocities, they keep sending articles to newspaper offices renewing their resolve to take revenge upon the murderers a thousand times.
Greetings to Iranian President
Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) -- Kim Yong Nam, President of the presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, today sent a message of greetings to Iranian President Seyed Mohammad Khatami on the occasion of the New Year in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The message congratulated the President and people of Iran on the New Year.
Expressing the belief that the friendly and cooperative relations between the DPRK and Iran would grow stronger and develop, the message sincerely wished the President greater success in his work for the independent development and prosperity of the country and good health.
Kim Yong Nam congratulates Namibian Independence Day
Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) -- Kim Yong Nam, President of the presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, on March 17 sent a message of greetings to Sam Nujoma, President of Namibia, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of its independence.
The message congratulated the Namibian President and people on its 10th anniversary of independence and wished them success in the work for achieving the nation's development and prosperity and defending peace.
It expressed conviction that the traditional relations of friendship and cooperation existing between the DPRK and Namibia would continue to develop on good terms.
Kim Yong Nam meets Swedish delegation
Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) -- Kim Yong Nam, President of the presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, met and conversed with a delegation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden led by state secretary Jan Eliasson at the Mansudae Assembly Hall today.
Present there were vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Pak Tong Chun and Svante Kilander, charge d' affaires A.I. of the Swedish embassy to the DPRK.
Gift to Kim Jong Il from Swedish delegation
Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) - General Secretary Kim Jong Il received a gift from the delegation of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on a visit to the DPRK.
The gift was handed to Kim Yong Nam, President of the presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, today by state secretary of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jan Eliasson who is leading the delegation.
Kang Sok Ju meets Swedish delegation
Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) -- Kang Sok Ju, first vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, met and had a talk with a delegation of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs headed by its state secretary Jan Eliasson.