Congratulatory message to Syrian Foreign Minister
Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) -- Paek Nam Sun, Foreign Minister of the DPRK, sent a congratulatory message to Farouq al Shara on his stay in office as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Syrian Arab Republic.
The message extended warm congratulations to him and wished him greater success in his work.
Kye Ung Thae meets delegation of cadres of Communist Party of China
Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) -- Kye Ung Thae, member of the political bureau and secretary of the Central Committee of the Worker's Party of Korea, today met and conversed with a delegation of cadres of the Communist Party of China headed by Chen Yiping, deputy secretary general of the central political science and law committee under the Communist Party of China.
Chen Yiping said that the Sino-Korean friendship was provided and sealed in blood by the President Kim Il Sung, chairman Mao Zedong and other Chinese leaders of the old generation, adding the great Kim Jong Il's visit to the Chinese embassy clearly proved that the Worker's Party of Korea is treasuring the Sino-Korean friendship and paying deep attention to it.
The Communist Party of China headed by Jiang Zemin is convinced that the friendship between the two countries will grow stronger and develop, he stressed.
Gift to Kim Jong Il from delegation of cadres
Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) - General Secretary Kim Jong Il received a gift from the visiting delegation of cadres of the Communist Party of China.
Head of the delegation Chen Yiping, deputy secretary general of the central political science and law committee of the Communist Party of China, conveyed it to Kye Ung Thae, member of the political bureau of the Central Committee of the WPK and secretary of the C.C., the WPK.
18th April spring friendship art festival to open in Pyongyang
Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) -- The 18th April Spring Friendship Art Festival will open in Pyongyang on the occasion of Sun's Day, the birth anniversary of the President Kim Il Sung.
The festival will present a variety of performances including music, dances, instrumental concerts and circus of over 80 art troupes and acrobatic groups consisting of winners of national and international music contests and well-known artistes from more than 40 countries, as well as overseas Korean art troupes and local art troupes.
The festival will contribute to developing friendship, solidarity and cultural exchanges and cooperation among peoples and men of culture and art of different countries in the idea of independence, peace and friendship.
Military attaches corps visits revolutionary sites
Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) -- The military attaches corps here visited the Hakdanggol Revolutionary Site and Sunhwa school on March 23 on the occasion of the 83rd anniversary of the inauguration of the Korean National Association (anti-Japanese underground revolutionary organisation) by Kim Hyong Jik.
The Hakdanggol Revolutionary Site (located in the center of Pyongyang) is a place where Kim Hyong Jik inaugurated the Korean National Association.
Members of the military attaches corps looked round the revolutionary site, being briefed on the dynamic struggle waged by him to achieve the independence of the country by the Koreans themselves.
They also visited Sunhwa school (Mangyongdae district) which is associated with his patriotic educational activities.
He is the father of the President Kim Il Sung.
He was an indomitable revolutionary fighter and an outstanding leader of the anti-Japanese national liberation movement in Korea.
KCNA on provocative remarks of S. Korean chief executive
Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) -- The South Korean chief executive, at a recent tea party with the leading officials of the association of reservists, asserted that "reform and opening is the only way out" for the north and "if North Korea opts for a war it will suffer only destruction," according to Joson Ilbo of South Korea.
This cannot be construed otherwise than impudent and provocative outbursts.
By "reform and opening" the South Korean chief executive means, in fact, blindly following the imperialist forces keen on establishing their domination over all the countries under the signboard of "globalization," thus abandoning the Juche character and national identity.
The South Korean chief executive only betrayed the servile and dirty "dead soul" peculiar to those preoccupied with dependence on outside forces and flunkeyism and treachery when he asserted that subordination, not national independence, is the only "way out."
His clamor about a war and "destruction" should be viewed as an intolerable provocative statement. We cannot but take a serious note of a torrent of similar outbursts let loose by the South Korean chief executive these days, while paying lip-service to the "dialogue" for the improved inter-Korean relations. He will have to pay a high price for this.
The South Korean chief executive is well advised to face up to reality and be prudent in his remarks regarding the inter-Korean relations. And he had better mind his own business.
U.S. plans to replace apache with new type one
Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) -- The U.S. military stationed in South Korea decided to replace apache helicopters deployed in South Korea with new type attack ones, according to a news report.
They intend to begin this replacement in April in the air regiment in Chunchon to which an attack mission was assigned.
The new type helicopter apache is equipped with a system of target choice and reconnaissance and the first of its kind to be mounted with shooting-control radar device, the report noted.
KCNA on S. Korean and U.S. military threat to DPRK
Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) -- Jo Song Thae, "Minister of National Defence" of South Korea, at a recent joint press conference at the end of "talks" with U.S. Defense Secretary Cohen, called for a "prompt and resolute joint action" against the alleged possible "armed provocation" of someone.
His remarks deserved strong condemnation as they are a war statement calling for a U.S.-South Korea joint attack on North Korea.
It is by no means accidental that these war outcries came at a time when a series of talks are under way between the DPRK and the U.S. and the South Korean authorities are frequently talking about the "improvement of relations" and "reconciliation" with the north.
This clearly proves that though the United States and the South Korean authorities are paying lip-service to the improved relations, they are, in actuality, seeking to provoke a war against the DPRK.
The U.S.-Japan-South Korea military collusion and tie-up are being tightened under the pretext of "joint defence" and their DPRK-targeted military moves are being escalated these days.
The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff of Japan flew into South Korea for a war confab some days ago and Cohen toured Japan and South Korea, crying out for "strong deterrent force" against the DPRK. These moves only exasperate the situation on the Korean peninsula.
Cohen's remarks are unpardonable outcries intended to encourage the South Korean authorities to escalate confrontation with the DPRK.
The U.S. and the South Korean warmongers must stop at once the dangerous actions to encroach upon the dignity of the sovereign DPRK.
GIs' murder of Korean women under fire
Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) -- Voices condemning the U.S. aggression troops' brutal murder of South Korean women are ringing out from different parts of the country.
Rallies denouncing the murderers were held at the Aeguk knitted goods factory in Pyongyang, the Haeju Knitwear Factory in South Hwanghae Province and the Sowon co-operative farm in Pyoksong county.
It was stressed at the rallies that all the Korean people who value the dignity of the nation should make the U.S. pays dearly for the blood shed by the fellow countrymen, not only expressing resentment against their bestial murder.
Speakers at the rallies said that more misfortune and sacrifice are unavoidable as long as human butchers remain in South Korea and that the South Korean people should rise up in the struggle to drive the aggressors out of South Korea.
Japan urged to stop legislating on "suffrage"
Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) -- The central committee of the Union of Agricultural Workers of Korea in a statement on Thursday denounced the Japanese reactionaries' moves to legislate on "suffrage" as a premeditated scheme to encroach upon the national dignity and rights of Korean citizens in Japan and undermine Chongryon (the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan) and one more anti-DPRK hostile act.
The organisation charged that the issue of "suffrage" raised by the Japanese reactionaries is a despicable plot to separate Korean citizens in Japan from the DPRK and assimilate them to "Japanese" under the pretext of giving non-Japanese permanent residents the right to participate in Japanese politics.
If the Japanese authorities really want to improve relations with the DPRK, they should unconditionally stop scheming to legislate on "suffrage," substantially ensure all the democratic rights of Korean compatriots in Japan, make a sincere apology and compensation for the past crimes against the Korean nation and make a switchover in Korea policy, emphasized the statement.
U.S. loudmouthed "missile threat from North Korea"
Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) -- On March 21 the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, Tenet, addressing a senate foreign relations committee hearing, made remarks against the DPRK, according to a news report from Washington.
He said "U.S. cities will face ballistic missile threats from a wider variety of countries, North Korea, probably Iran, possibly Iraq over the next 15 years."
"The U.S. is more vulnerable than ever to surprise," he added.
He charged that proliferation of mid-range ballistic missiles by the DPRK arms sales upsets strategic balance.
The U.S. has deployed various kinds of missiles, nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in different parts of the world and wrecks world peace and security. It is also the largest arms seller in the world.
The U.S. loudmouthed "threat" and "arms sales" on the part of the DPRK reminds the people of a thief crying "stop thief "
Movement for rejecting those candidates to be defeated
Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) -- The Citizens' Solidarity for General Election in South Korea is conducting a movement for rejecting the candidates who were branded as those to be defeated in the "election of national assemblymen," according to a radio report from Seoul.
Over 30 leading members of the organization toured 15 cities of South Korea including Pusan, Taegu and Taejon for a week and held a starting ceremony of the "election"-related movement on March 20.
They reportedly initiated the movement with a view to getting a promise from 2,270,000 "voters " in 227 "constituencies" across South Korea, 10,000 in each constituency, the promise that they will not vote for the candidates who were already branded as those to be defeated.
In a related development, the movement began in more than 10 major places of Seoul, too, on March 20.
S. Korean students demand settlement of registration fee problem
Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) -- Representatives of the General Student Councils of 65 universities in South Korea held a press conference at Ehwa Women's University in Seoul on March 20 in demand of the settlement of the university registration fee problem, according to a radio report from Seoul.
They protested private universities setting the rate of raising registration fee by themselves and unreasonably dealing with financial affairs to increase the burdens of students and strongly demanded that the authorities come out in the settlement of the problem.
They declared they would stay away from classes two days from March 23 and hold a large rally for the settlement of the problem in Seoul on March 24.
Japanese urged to stop using "mysterious ship case" for their war preparations
Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) -- It is one year since the Japanese reactionaries faked up the "mysterious ship case" against the DPRK on March 23 last year.
By the "mysterious ship case" they meant that warships of the Japan "Self-Defence Forces" "pursued" what they called "operation ships" of the DPRK which allegedly intruded into the territorial waters of Japan. But it was a sinister anti-DPRK plot hatched by them to realize their criminal design to reinvade Korea.
The aim sought by them through this "case" was to find a pretext to make legal arrangements for a war against the DPRK.
It was not accidental that the fabrication of the "mysterious ship case" was timed to coincide with the deliberation at the Japanese diet of the "legislation on emergencies in areas surrounding Japan" to implement the updated "Japan-U.S. Defence Cooperation Guidelines", a war scenario for reinvasion of the Korean peninsula.
The Japanese reactionaries used the "mysterious ship case" as a shocking one along with the fiction of the DPRK's "ballistic missile launch" which they zealously floated following its satellite launch in 1998 in adopting the "legislation on emergencies in areas surrounding Japan" in may last year and effectuating it in September that year despite opposition and denunciation from the people at home and abroad.
They have used the "case" as a pretext for stepping up military preparations for their reinvasion.
Following the "case" they have worked hard to round off these preparations, under the pretence of "countering intrusion into Japan's territorial waters" and "guerrilla infiltration".
The Japanese government in the so-called "guidelines for counter-measure" adopted on august 11 last year set out specific procedures and a detailed plan to strengthen the government's wartime commanding system and the system of joint operations of the Defence Agency, the "Self-Defence Forces", the Maritime Safety Agency and police under the pretext of "checking mysterious ship."
While faking up the "mysterious ship case," the defence agency worked out and used the "rules for belligerency" which define the standard of units' actions and use of arms, etc., the rules banned by the constitution.
The Japanese reactionaries have frantically escalated military exercises aimed to increase maritime attack capacity and the guerrilla drill of the ground "SDF" with the "case" as a momentum.
If they continue to escalate the war moves against the DPRK under the pretext of the "case" whose falsity was brought to light, they will be wholly responsible for the grave consequences arising therefrom.
U.S. apology and compensation for its crimes against humanity called for
Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) -- Rodong Sinmun today in a lengthy signed article demands the United States redeem its most hideous crimes against humanity in history committed during the last Korean War.
The article entitled "U.S. imperialists are bound to meet stern punishment by history and humankind" cites undeniable facts to prove the bestial, vicious and grave nature of the U.S. atrocities.
It continues:
The U.S. crimes against humanity put into the shade ill-famed Jinghis Khan and the Hitler Nazi clique in their scale and brutality.
The Korean War provoked by the U.S. is different from other wars in its criminal nature because it was not a mere war of aggression but a war aimed to exterminate a nation.
The article cites instances to prove that the U.S. monstrous crimes were organized and state-sponsored ones committed under a carefully worked out plan.
The mass killings by the U.S. was organized crimes deliberately committed by orders and instructions under a pre-arranged detailed plan.
All the killings were perpetrated according to the operation plans of the U.S. far eastern headquarters and the U.S. 8th army command. Those who directly ordered and commanded them were U.S. army officers from company commanders to divisional commanders.
This is evidenced by the fact that the U.S. authorities have ignored them and covered up the truth about them, though they are well informed of them.
These facts go to prove that the U.S. authorities are entirely responsible for the hideous crimes against humanity.
The U.S. should be sternly judged by history without fail for its biggest-ever crimes against humanity.
The U.S. should stop playing a trick to flout human conscience, honestly admit its crimes and own state responsibility for them.
It should apologize for the crimes against humanity committed in Korea, compensate for them and face deserved punishment.
Prescription is not applicable to the crimes against humanity.
No matter how hard the U.S. may try it can never escape from its responsibility for the most brutal crimes in history.
History will certainly mete out a stern judgement to the U.S. for its biggest-ever crimes against humanity.
Preparatory committees formed to commemorate Sun's Day
Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) -- Preparatory committees for commemorating Sun's Day were formed in Poland and Spain on March 17 and 14 on the occasion of the 88th anniversary of the birth of the President Kim Il Sung. And the maritime territory preparatory committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation for commemorating Sun's Day was inaugurated on March 15.
Preparatory committees decided to organize multifarious functions on Sun's Day.
Three-point charter of Korea's reunification supported in Guyana
Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) -- Political parties and organisations of Guyana participated in the international signature campaign for supporting the three-point charter of Korea's reunification.
The signature paper was signed by Peter Persaud, leader of the Amerindian Action Movement of Guyana, on behalf of over 5,000 party members, by Robert Williams, chairman of the Guyanese National Committee for the Study of the Juche Idea of Comrade Kim Il Sung, on behalf of committee members on March 14, and by Hamilton Green, leader of the Good Green Guyana, on behalf of 1,550 party members, by Samuel Soul, chairman of the Guyana-Korea Friendship Association, on behalf of members of the association and by Sabid Bacus, chairman of the Guyana Committee for Support of Korea's Reunification, on behalf of committee members on March 15.
Meanwhile, the signature paper was signed by the principal and class teacher on behalf of teachers of the Charlestown high middle school in Georgetown and students of the Kim Jong Il class of the school.