Foreign diplomats visit museum
Pyongyang, December 21 (KCNA) -- Diplomatic envoys of different countries and representatives of international organizations here visited the revolutionary museum of the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces yesterday on the occasion of the 9th anniversary of the great leader Kim Jong Il's election as Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army and the 83rd birth anniversary of the great communist revolutionary fighter Kim Jong Suk.
They looked round materials and relics on display with keen interest.
At the end of the visit, Cuban ambassador Jose Manuel Inclan Embade said it is thanks to the wise leadership of the great Kim Jong Il that the Korean People's Army is demonstrating its might as revolutionary armed forces all over the world.
Protocol of 14th meeting of DPRK-Russia joint fisheries commission signed
Pyongyang, December 21 (KCNA) -- A protocol of the 14th meeting of the DPRK-Russia joint fisheries commission for cooperation in the field of fishing industry was signed in Pyongyang yesterday.
Present at the signing ceremony were members of the DPRK delegation to the commission and members of the delegation of the National Fisheries Committee of the Russian Federation.
Independent reunification of Korea called for
Pyongyang, December 21 (KCNA) -- The north-south joint declaration which was published in June last is a manifesto of national independence which solemnly declared the Korean nation's will to independently open up a new era in its history, says Rodong Sinmun today in a signed article.
Noting that national reunification is an independent cause which should be achieved by the efforts of the Korean nation, the article says:
It is certain that the Korean nation who is victim to national division and desires reunification more fervently than anybody else should come out to carry out the cause of reunification, responsible for it.
No outside forces should be allowed to meddle in the cause of national reunification as it is an independent one.
It is a stark fact that the issue of national reunification has not been solved though half a century has passed since Korea's division chiefly because of foreign interference in the internal affairs of the Korean nation.
National reunification should be achieved independently by the efforts of the Korean nation under all circumstances.
Koreans can certainly pool their will and efforts to achieve independent reunification. Though the north and the south have the differing ideologies and systems, nothing is dearer to the Koreans responsible for reunification than ardent patriotism that should be placed above any ideology.
Only when all the thinking and activities are based on patriotism is it possible for the north and the south to unite as one and the same nation and carve out the destiny of the nation independently.
Wise leadership of Kim Jong Il praised
Pyongyang, December 21 (KCNA) -- V.I. Anpilov, chairman of the executive committee of the "Working Russia" Movement, highly praised the great leader Kim Jong Il.
In an interview he had with the KCNA correspondent in Moscow on Dec. 18 to mark the 9th anniversary of Kim Jong Il's election as Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army, the chairman said:
It is thanks to the wise leadership of Kim Jong Il that the Korean people have firmly defended socialism despite the imperialists' moves to isolate and stifle the DPRK and socialist Korea led by him is invincible.
The cause of global socialism is sure to win victory under his guidance.
His army-first line is the most correct one for defending the destiny of socialism in the world.
Only victory and glory are in store for the Korean people faithful to his army-first revolutionary leadership.
Life of Kim Jong Suk praised
Pyongyang, December 21 (KCNA) -- Seminars were held by the Group for the Study of the Juche Idea of Comrade Kim Il Sung of Teachers of the Golden Grove Primary School of Guyana and the Group for the Study of the Juche Idea of Comrade Kim Il Sung of the Old Kampala Higher Middle School of Uganda on December 12 and 14 to commemorate the 83rd birth anniversary of the great communist revolutionary fighter Kim Jong Suk.
Speakers at the seminars said that there have been many famous women commanders in history but no such woman commander as Kim Jong Suk who performed great feats in the nation's history can be found.
They stressed that her life was short but it was a very admirable and brilliant life replete with her unbound devotion to the leader, high sense of revolutionary obligation, comradeship and unflagging tenacity, modesty and simplicity.
Message of sympathy to Azerbaijani Prime Minister
Pyongyang, December 21 (KCNA) -- Hong Song Nam, premier of the DPRK cabinet, sent a message of sympathy to Artur Tair Ogli Rasizade, Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Upon hearing the sad news that Baku and its surrounding areas were recently hit by successive earthquakes which claimed heavy casualties, the message expressed deep condolences to the Prime Minister and, through him, to the people of the country and the bereaved families.
The message sincerely hoped that the government and the people of Azerbaijan would recover from the earthquake damage as early as possible.
Vigilance against U.S. new "strategy for 21st century" called for
Pyongyang, December 21 (KCNA) -- The U.S. new "strategy for the 21st century" recently announced by the U.S. Department of Defense is, in essence, a dangerous military strategy as it was based on the reexamined and formulated nuclear strategy in the era of the Cold War, says Rodong Sinmun today in a signed commentary calling on the world revolutionary people to heighten vigilance against it.
What merits attention in the strategy is that a nuclear strategy was singled out as a new key element of the U.S. policy for world domination in the 21st century and developing countries were made its main targets, the commentary notes, and goes on:
This indicates that for all its talks about the departure from the Cold War the United States is, in fact, poised to spark a new cold war and keen on the moves to establish a "new world order" and realize "globalization" in the 21st century by the nuclear strategy.
This strategy is targeted against the Asian region, the Korean peninsula, in particular.
This is evidenced by the fact that the united states plans to bring in at least 690,000 strong reinforcements of three services and marines of the U.S. forces in case of "emergency" on the Korean peninsula.
The United States should clearly know that the DPRK can never be a target of its nuclear weapons and armed forces.
The DPRK is ready for both dialogue and war.
The world revolutionary people should remain highly vigilant against the U.S. nuclear strategy and policy of strength, well aware of its unchangeable aggressive nature and dangerous design to dominate the world in the 21st century.
Kim Jong Il's endless trips for on-site guidance
Pyongyang, December 21 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Kim Jong Il has made endless trips for on-site guidance to bring prosperity to the country.
This year he has visited many units in various parts of the country including Jagang, south and north Hamgyong, north Phyongan and south Hwanghae provinces.
He inspected the dam construction site of the Kumjingang Power Station and a farm built for raw material supply in Hamhung city on November 30, the land leveling and rezoning project in South Hwanghae Province and unit no. 350 of the Korean People's Army on December 5 and newly-built industrial establishments in Pyongyang on December 7.
He regards the increase of military strength as the most important state affair.
He has inspected KPA units of arms and services without rest to take care of servicepersons' training and living down to details.
Whenever he visits a KPA unit he acquaints himself, first of all, with soldier's living conditions, pays attention to even a trifling matter and takes warm care of them as their parents would do.
He visited soldier-builders to encourage the KPA to bear the brunt of the work to build a powerful nation.
The KPA has remarkably increased its combat capability, while performing heroic feats in economic construction.
KPA soldiers built the Anbyon Youth Power Station, the Naephyong Power Station, the Youth Hero Motorway and other monumental edifices by highly displaying the revolutionary spirit of soldiers under the slogan "Let us take charge of both defence of the country and socialist construction " and they completed the construction of modern model factories for the development of fish farming and stockbreeding in a short span of time.
Firmly determined to build a powerful nation in the near future, he ceaselessly provided on-site guidance to power stations, saltern construction sites, iron works, mines, textile factories, machine plants and forestry stations.
Wherever he went he gave instructions to complete all projects as grand monumental edifices and advanced concrete tasks and ways to keep the production going at a high rate and manage and operate factories in a rational way.
He also solved knotty problems of producer masses, thus bringing about innovations in every workplace.
He gave unremitting on-site guidance to different places to enable people to live well off, regardless of bad weather, rugged roads and remote places.
All the creations made recently to improve the standard of the servicepersons and people's living including catfish, chicken and pig factories, an ostrich farm and fish farms are associated with his immortal leadership feats.
Okryugum
Pyongyang, December 21 (KCNA) -- Okryugum is one of the Korean national musical instruments of diverse style and sound.
It was manufactured in the 1970s on the basis of characteristics of national stringed instruments such as Kayagum. This musical instrument was named Okryugum for its clear and sweet sound.
Okryugum is widely used in solo performance. Its player participates in orchestral music.
It has an unequilateral hoof-shaped resonance box and legs.
There are a round resonance hole, 33 strings and several sound adjusting devices on the top of the box.
It is played with fingers.
It is widely used not only by professional art troupes such as the Mansudae Art Troupe and the State National Art Troupe but by ordinary people.
Many Okryugum players are being trained at different music education institutions such as the national musical instrument faculty of Pyongyang University of Music and dance.
Kim Kil Hwa's Okryugum solo performance and Kim Kil Hwan's Kayagum solo presentation were given at the Yun I Sang Concert Hall recently.
Both were successful.
Especially, Kim Kil Hwa's performance of popular songs, mainly music of Korean folk songs, and instrumental music deeply impressed the audience.
S. Korean workers stage general strike
Pyongyang, December 21 (KCNA) -- The South Korean Communications Trade Union went on a general strike on Dec. 18, according to Seoul-based MBC.
The organization announced a total strike in work-sites across South Korea, asserting that the authorities and the management's unilateral restructuring and total privatization plan are unacceptable.
Meanwhile, the National and Housing Bank Worker's Unions called extraordinary meetings of their deputies at the head offices of the banks on Dec. 17 and threatened to call a general strike if their management carry out the restructuring.
Wreath laid before Kim Jong Suk's bust
Pyongyang, December 21 (KCNA) -- Women of various embassies and missions of international organizations here today laid a wreath before the bust of the great communist revolutionary fighter Kim Jong Suk in the Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery on Mt. Taesong on the occasion of her 83rd birth anniversary.
After laying the wreath they observed a moment's silence in memory of the anti-Japanese heroine Kim Jong Suk who was boundlessly loyal to the President Kim Il Sung and devoted her life to the sacred cause for national liberation and the freedom and happiness of the people.
Written on the ribbon hanging from the wreath are letters "may the revolutionary exploits of the great communist revolutionary fighter comrade Kim Jong Suk be immortal "
Inter-Korean military working-level talks held
Panmunjom, December 21 (KCNA) -- The third round of the north-south military working-level talks was held at the Thongil House in the north side's portion of Panmunjom today to militarily ensure the implementation of the historic June 15 north-south joint Declaration.
Present at the talks were the military working-level delegation of the north side led by senior colonel Yu Yong Chol and the military working-level delegation of the south side led by brigadier general Kim Kyong Dok.
At the talks the head of the north side's delegation referred to the previous talks before noting that in order to make the talks successful in the future it is necessary to drop the conception of hostile confrontation, refrain from all military actions threatening the other party and act up to one's words. It is possible to provide a sure military guarantee for the implementation of the joint Declaration only when these principles are observed, he added.
Serving a strong warning to the south side upon the authorization, he recalled that the "Ministry of National Defence" of the south side in the "white paper on national defence for 2000" on December 4 defined the north, the other party to the dialogue, as the "principal enemy" and Declared it at home and abroad.
He continued:
In the joint declaration signed by the heads of the north and the south both sides agreed to independently settle the issue of national reunification by the concerted efforts of the nation and shared the view at the first round of the north-south defence ministers' talks, too, that the fellow countrymen should never fight each other. Nevertheless, the south side defined the north as the "principal enemy." This is an undisguised perfidy to and an unpardonable challenge to the inter-Korean agreements already Declared at home and abroad.
He strongly protested and denounced such hostile policy of the south side, branding it as a declaration of all-out confrontation between the armies of both sides and a grave criminal move to preserve the conception of confrontation in the Cold War era and thus chill the fellow countrymen's desire for reunification and bring the inter-Korean relations back to those in the past.
This act of inciting confrontation compels the north side to doubt whether it is possible to agree upon and implement such important matters as removing the military demarcation line and opening the demilitarized zone, he said.
In conclusion he strongly demanded that the south side withdraw the anti-national conception of "principal enemy" as soon as possible if it is truly willing to sincerely
Implement the joint declaration.