Preparations for Sun's Day brisk in S. Korea
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- Preparations for grandly commemorating Sun's Day (April 15) in 2000, the birth anniversary of the President Kim Il Sung, are progressing apace in Seoul and Pusan of South Korea, the Seoul-based radio Voice of National Salvation said.
A preparatory committee for commemorating Sun's Day in 2000 was formed in Seoul on March 18 under the sponsorship of the reunification patriotic society.
That day a meeting was jointly initiated by the society, progressive professors and teachers and dissident figures in the city.
The meeting set April when Kim Il Sung was born as a "month of honoring the memory of the man who is as great as the sun" and decided to plan and promote multifarious events including show of video cassettes on which his life is recorded and a lecture during the period.
The members of the April 15 fellowship society active in Seoul also inaugurated a similar committee.
The meeting set the commemoration period from March 15 to April 20 and adopted a plan for activities to grasp and learn from the great personality of Kim Il Sung.
The members of the Thaeyang Society held a meeting to grandly commemorate Sun's Day in Pusan on March 15.
The meeting set a period of commemorating Sun's Day from March 20 to April 15 and adopted a decision to conduct various activities during the period.
Preparatory committees formed abroad
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- Preparatory committees for commemorating Sun's Day were formed in Indonesia and Syria on March 24 and 25.
Rahmawati Sukarnoptri, president of the Sukarno Educational Foundation of Indonesia, and Riyad Suleiman Iwad, member of the political bureau of the Socialist Unionist Party of Syria, were elected chairmen of the preparatory committees.
The preparatory committees decided to hold multifarious events.
Congress of WFTU supports Korea's reunification
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- The 14th congress of the World Federation of Trade Unions held in New Delhi from March 25 to 28 adopted a resolution expressing solidarity with the Korean workers and other people.
The resolution says:
The World Federation of Trade Unions expresses full support to the Korean workers and other people in their struggle to achieve the independent and peaceful reunification of Korea on the basis of the three-point charter of national reunification set forth by the President Kim Il Sung.
We demand that the U.S. put an end to the interference in the internal affairs of Korea, immediately withdraw its troops from South Korea, replace the Armistice Agreement with a peace agreement and formally apologize and compensate for its massacres of civilians committed during the past Korean War.
We also voice firm solidarity with the South Korean workers in their righteous and legitimate struggle for independence, democracy and reunification and rights of the trade unions and demand the South Korean authorities abolish the ill-famed "security law" and dismantle the concrete wall, a symbol of division.
We call upon the trade unions and working people in all countries to express solidarity with the Korean workers and other people in their struggle for the country's reunification, fixing a month of international solidarity with the Korean people, support the three-point charter of national reunification and join in an international signature campaign for the withdrawal of the U.S. troops from South Korea.
Three-point charter of national reunification supported in India
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- A political party and a public organization of India launched an international signature campaign supporting the three-point charter of Korean reunification and demanding the withdrawal of the U.S. troops from South Korea.
Debabrata Biswas, general secretary of the central committee of the All-India Forward Bloc, signed the signature paper on behalf of its 900,000 members and G. Debarajan, chairman of the national youth league under the bloc, signed it on behalf of its 300,000 members.
Japan condemned for military drill
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- Japan's Maritime Safety Agency staged military drill of "chasing" what they called "mysterious ship" one year after the "case" was cooked up.
Describing the drill as one for participation in the second Korean war, Rodong Sinmun today says in a signed commentary:
Japan seeks to hurl its aggression armed forces into a war under this pretext if it breaks out on the Korean peninsula.
Under the present constitution of Japan its "Self-Defence Forces" are not allowed to take part in any operation of attack on other country. The invented "case of mysterious ship" was intended to remove this obstacle.
Through the "case" Japan sought to provide the "SDF" with a legal pretext to participate in such attack operation and further increase its capacity of maritime operation and thus round off preparations for overseas aggression.
The "chasing" drill proves that Japan's scenario of reinvasion of Korea has been put into more concrete shape and has entered the phase of practice. If Japan stages comeback to Korea under this pretext, it will lead it to self-destruction.
Firm guarantee for accomplishing cause of independence
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- Only when the military and national defence are considered as the most important affair of the state, can the sovereignty and prosperity of the country and the nation be guaranteed, says Rodong Sinmun today in a signed article.
It goes on:
Under the situation where a fierce struggle between socialism and imperialism, between revolution and counterrevolution and between independent forces and dominationist forces is going on, any good idea and just cause cannot be defended without the forces supporting them.
Attaching great importance to the military and national defence is vital for the destiny of the country and the nation now that imperialism remains on our planet and its aggression moves have become all the more pronounced as days go by.
The United States wantonly trampled underfoot the sovereignty of small countries in the Persian Gulf War and the Yugoslav War.
A country and a nation that fails to attach importance to the military and increase its defence capability is bound to face a lot of a puppet who curries favour with the imperialists and dances to their tune.
If a country, though small, attaches great importance to the military and increases its defence capability to build up military strength to counter the imperialists, they will dare not attack it.
The validity and vitality of the strategic line of considering the idea of giving great importance to the military and national defence as the most important affair of the state have been clearly proved by the reality of the DPRK.
The United States which is in the belligerent relationship with the DPRK boasts of being the "strongest in the world" in terms of military muscle. But the U.S. dares not attack the DPRK, though it has worked hard to conquer the latter by force of arms for over half a century. This is because the DPRK has invariably pursued the policy of attaching great importance to the military and national defence as the most important affair of the state.
The peace, security and sovereignty of the country and the nation are defended with arms. Only when defence capability is increased with consideration always given to the policy as the most important affair of the state, is it possible to defend the sovereignty of the country and the nation and achieve its peace, security, prosperity and progress. This is an important lesson taught by the history of the 20th century full of ups and downs.
S. Korean unionists stage general strike
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- The trade union of Daewoo Motor held a rally in Inchon on March 31 and went on a general strike in protest of the company's planned sale to a foreign firm, a Yonhap News report from Seoul said.
That day, at least 1,000 unionists staged a demonstration declaring a general strike at the rally.
They held a rally to vow a general struggle against the sale and denounced the authorities for planning to sell the bankrupt company to a foreign firm in disregard of many workers' existence.
At the rally Tan Pyong Ho, chairman of the South Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, criticized the "government" for having turned down the proposed negotiations over this issue. General strike will be launched on April 6 with unionists of four major motor companies involved unless this proposal is accepted, he warned.