Ground-breaking ceremony held in area of Mt. Paektu
Samjiyon, October 20 (KCNA) -- A ground-breaking ceremony for the second-stage construction of revolutionary sites in the area of Mt. Paektu, Ryanggang province in the north-eastern part of Korea was held on Oct. 20 at the plaza before the Samjiyon grand monument where President Kim Il Sung's statue stands.
Hong Song Nam, premier of the DPRK cabinet, said in his report made at the ceremony that the builders are faced with the tasks to construct facilities for permanently preserving materials and relics in the revolutionary battlesites and historical sites and many new houses and readjust and recondition over 190 km of roads and construct several power stations and wind up the overhaul of the existing power stations.
Senior officials of the party and the government, ministries and national institutions and party information workers took part in ground-breaking in different worksites.
Koizumi's remarks assailed in S. Korea
Pyongyang, October 21 (KCNA) -- Various citizens and public organizations and personages in South Korea are becoming bitterly critical of the Japanese prime minister, charging that he once again made mockery of Koreans with word jugglery without honestly redressing Japan's past, when he merely uttered the word "apology," "expressing sympathy to Koreans' sufferings" on Oct. 15 during his junket to South Korea, according to the newspaper Hangyore.
Upon hearing this news the headquarters of the movement for correcting the distortion of Japanese history textbooks released an urgent commentary in which it noted that "Koizumi once again uttered only customary glossy words of apology and Koreans cannot trust him unless he puts those words of apology into specific practice.
The director of the council of measures for the issue of the "volunteers corps" said that in view of the Japanese government's behavior and attitude, his "apology" is very likely to end in a wordplay.
The Society for the Study of Tok Islet in a statement dismissed his remarks as a deceptive political farce. It urged the South Korean government to drop its humiliating diplomacy toward Japan and conduct strong independent diplomacy.
Meanwhile, over 100 citizens and public organizations including the "national people's solidarity for national independence, democracy and people's right to existence," the council of measures for the issue of the "volunteers corps" and the headquarters of the movement for correcting the distortion of Japanese history textbooks staged rallies and demonstrations in more than ten places in Seoul protesting Koizumi's South Korea junket.
Japanese reactionaries' tyrannical action slammed
Pyongyang, October 21 (KCNA) -- Minju Joson today in a signed commentary assails the Japanese reactionaries for their tyrannical act of ransacking the International Institute of the Juche Idea (IIJI) and the house of its secretary general and various Juche idea study organizations in Japan.
The DPRK cannot but take a serious view of this action as it was not an accidental step taken in accordance with what they called "legal procedure" but a carefully prearranged deliberate action, the commentary notes, and goes on:
Lurking behind the recent action was the Japanese reactionaries' sinister design to launch a wholesale crackdown upon the Juche idea study organizations in Japan by invoking their domestic law.
Their step was taken in pursuance of their virulent hostile policy towards the DPRK in a bid to cripple its dignity daily rising thanks to the immortal Juche idea. This is an intolerable challenge to world progressive humankind and unprecedented gangsterim and an anachronistic rash act.
The recent incident helped the world realize once again what extent the Japanese reactionaries' moves to turn Japan rightist and fascist have reached.
The Korean people and other progressive people of the world will never pardon the Japanese reactionaries challenging the just cause of the era for independence.
The Japanese authorities should severely punish those responsible for the incident and honestly apologize to the Korean people and the world's progressives for it.
U.S. arms buildup in S. Korea condemned
Pyongyang, October 21 (KCNA) -- Rodong Sinmun today in a signed commentary says that the DPRK cannot but take a serious view of the step, taken by the United States to increase its airforce combat capabilities in South Korea.
The present complicated situation compels the DPRK to increase its military power with heightened vigilance, the commentary says, and goes on:
The situation is very complicated and tense and hard to predict as retaliation operations are going on in Afghanistan. Under this situation the U.S. has newly forward-deployed its air task force and military hardware in South Korea allegedly to "fill up a military vacuum," badly getting on the nerves of the DPRK.
Such reinforcement is not for filling up any "vacuum" but intended to attain the u.s. sinister purpose.
The DPRK repeatedly clarified its principled stand to oppose all forms of terrorism as regards the recent terrorist attacks on the u.s.
However, the U.S. is additionally deploying its combat forces in South Korea under the pretext of "military vacuum" to aggravate the tense situation, not squarely seeing the nature of the situation and the reality. This is an undisguised revelation of its unchanged design to dominate the Korean peninsula and the Asia-Pacific region.
The U.S. imperialists' "military vacuum" theory and arms buildup can never be justified.
The DPRK will cement its revolutionary position in every way to actively cope with any situation and sharply watch the developments in full combat readiness.
Early solution of humanitarian issue urged
Pyongyang, October 21 (KCNA) -- The secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland yesterday issued its information bulletin no. 811 clarifying again the north side's stand to ensure the progress of the inter-Korean dialogue.
The north side's principled stand has already been clarified in the October 12 statement of a CPRF spokesman, which was released as regards the fact that South Korea has been put on "emergency alert", and in the October 18 telephone message sent by the head of the north side's delegation to the inter-Korean ministerial talks to the south side, the information bulletin noted, and said:
However, the south side has not shown any response to the north side's just initiatives and proposals, but is casting aspersions on the latter's sincere efforts for the development of the bilateral relations and national unity.
Such unjustifiable behavior in violation of the bilateral agreements and the basic spirit of the June 15 joint declaration is based on the position of the south defining the north as "principal enemy".
Noting that ultra-rightist conservative forces of South Korea including the "Grand National Party" are saying this or that about the cooperation between the north and the south, the bulletin said: there will be no future for those separatists speaking ill of fellow countrymen and inciting confrontation.
It further said:
Steadfast is our will to improve the north-south relations through dialogue and negotiations, and there is no change in our stand to solve the humanitarian issues including exchange of visiting groups of separated families and relatives at an early date.
Our side holds that the south side, if it truly respects the fundamental spirit of the June 15 joint declaration and want national reconciliation and unity, should urgently take any forms of measures to create circumstances and atmosphere understandable and acceptable to us.
The south side should also take a bold decision to accept flexible timeframes for multi-faceted talks, proposed by the north side out of the desire to develop dialogues between the two sides, and come out to the negotiating tables.
We will keep an eye on the south side's attitude.
Fifth "Day of National Immunization" opens
Pyongyang, October 21 (KCNA) -- An inaugural meeting of the fifth "Day of National Immunization" was held in Pyongyang yesterday.
In the DPRK October 20, the anniversary of President Kim Il Sung's famous work "socialist medical science is preventive medicine," is marked as the "Day of National Immunization".
On this day all the children up to the age of five across the country are vaccinated against poliomyelitis.
At the meeting Kim Su Hak, minister of public health, in his speech said that the who, UNICEF and other international organizations have rendered sincere cooperation to the DPRK in its efforts to successively observe the "day of national immunization".
He expressed thanks to the international federation of red cross and red crescent societies, UNDP and other international bodies, the EU and other governmental and non-governmental organizations for the sincere assistance given to the DPRK and expressed the expectation that they would positively contribute to the work to promote the health of Korean children in the future, too.
Eigil Sorensen, representative of the who here and Nada K. Kruvavika, acting representative of the UNICEF here made congratulatory speeches at the meeting.
Noting that the "day of national immunization" is successively observed in the DPRK under the guidance of leader Kim Jong Il, they said that this day would mark an important event in the global efforts to eradicate poliomyelitis.
They said they were proud to note that the Ministry of Public Health of the DPRK, who, UNICEF, donor organizations and aid bodies are cooperating with each other in the efforts to eradicate diseases and expressed thanks for this.
They said that they would as ever continue the technological and material cooperation in the efforts to implement the infantile paralysis eradication and expanded immunization projects on the basis of the achievements made in the DPRK.
Present there were scientists and technicians in the field of public health and medical workers, an official of UNPF, the EU representative, the resident co-ordinator of the development co-operation office of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, members of the aid delegation of the international federation of red cross and red crescent societies, and diplomatic envoys of Sweden, Germany and the UK here.
At the end of the meeting the participants saw photos showing the successes made in the health care in the DPRK.
Statement of spokesman for C.C., DPRK Red Cross Society
Pyongyang, October 21 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Central Committee of the DPRK Red Cross Society released a statement today calling for the removal of gruesome circumstances and atmosphere prevailing in South Korea.
Noting that since the publication of the June 15 joint declaration the DPRK advanced a series of reasonable proposals to alleviate the misfortune and sufferings of the separated families and relatives and has made every possible sincere effort for their realization, the statement said:
However, the south side has not yet taken understandable steps but is hell-bent on the move to evade and shift the blame for the matter.
This is very regretful.
The reality eloquently shows who is truly interested in the solution of the humanitarian issue and who is opposed to its solution.
National reconciliation and unity are a precondition for the solution of the humanitarian issue and mistrust and confrontation are an obstacle to it.
When efforts are made to solve the reunification problem, the issue of the nation, by the efforts of the fellow countrymen in the spirit of the joint declaration, the south side is creating a horrifying atmosphere of mistrust and confrontation among members of the nation, with the happenings outside the country as an occasion. Under this situation nobody believes any call of the south side for the solution of the humanitarian issue.
Words should correspond with action.
The south side should show in action rather than word that its desire for the solution of the humanitarian issue is true.
We think that such opportunity for it to do so has already been given by us.
As clarified in the October 18 telephone message of the north side, the south side should, above all, show in practice its willingness to remove the gruesome circumstances and atmosphere prevailing in South Korea for the reunion of separated families and relatives.
If circumstances and conditions favorable for such reunion are created in South Korea, our side will exchange visiting groups of separated families and relatives anytime.