KCNA on DPRK's Stand to React to Japan's Blockade and Sanctions with Toughest Stand

     Pyongyang, January 28 (KCNA) -- Japan is reportedly considering examining and adopting the bill on "economic sanctions against north Korea" at a regular Diet session while talking about tightening control over export and import, part of its measure for economic blockade against the DPRK. This is a disturbing development as it may lay a stumbling block in the way of a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue, harass peace and security on the Korean peninsula and escalate the military tension in the region.
    The Japanese reactionaries are now set to prevent the DPRK from having trade with other countries and stifle it economically in wanton violation of the UN Charter and international law which provide for economic progress and normal business transactions of sovereign states. This goes to clearly prove that their moves to isolate and stifle the DPRK have reached their height.
    Richard Perl, a policy maker for the U.S. war against Iraq who is now working at an advisory body in the U.S. Defense Department, and a former special adviser to President Bush co-authored a book in which they called for taking comprehensive aerial and sea blockade against north Korea and taking decisive measures beginning with blocking all its sea routes and international air routes and preventing its business transaction with south Korea.
    What matters here is that the Japanese reactionaries are acting a shock brigade in implementing this strategy for blockade and sanctions.
    They have constantly applied all forms of economic sanctions against the DPRK as evidenced by the prevention of remittance to north Korea and the voyage of Mangyongbong-92 in the past. They are now attempting to fully legislate on the "economic sanctions against north Korea" at a regular Diet session from the outset of the year. This can not but be a green light to their all-out offensive to stifle the DPRK.
    Even Tokyo Metropolitan Governor Ishihara at a recent annual meeting of the World Economic Forum asserted that the Japanese government should impose economic sanctions upon north Korea.
    This is a blatant perfidy to the DPRK-Japan Pyongyang Declaration which calls for liquidating the unhappy history of relations between the DPRK and Japan and establishing fruitful political, economic and cultural relations.
    The world progressives want Japan to drop its hostile policy toward the DPRK and clarify its willingness to fully redeem huge damage and pain it brought to the Koreans in the basic spirit of the DPRK-Japan Pyongyang Declaration and thus put an end to their hostile relations this year.
    But Japan is challenging this call of the times.
    Sanctions and blockade are never all-cure.
    The DPRK will react to the Japanese reactionaries' blockade and sanctions with the toughest stand.
    The Japanese reactionaries should not act rashly, clearly mindful that blockade and sanctions against the DPRK will only precipitate its own self-destruction.

Preparatory Committee Formed in Guinea

     Pyongyang, January 28 (KCNA) -- An inaugural ceremony of a preparatory committee for celebrating February 16, birthday of leader Kim Jong Il, was held at the building of the Party for Unity and Progress of Guinea on January 19. At the ceremony General Secretary of the Party for Unity and Progress of Guinea Sekou Konate was elected chairman of the preparatory committee.
    Addressing the ceremony, he said that they should celebrate the birthday of Kim Jong Il, the great leader of the Korean people, most significantly as a holiday common to humankind and that to celebrate his birthday significantly is the due obligation of all of us who have invariably developed the fraternal bonds with the Korean people from long ago.
    He expressed the belief that the Korean people would achieve national reunification and emerge victorious in building a great prosperous powerful nation under the wise leadership of Kim Jong Il.
    The ceremony discussed the issues of organizing colorful celebrations and special write-ups and special broadcasting of news media.

Appeal of Joint Meeting Supported

     Pyongyang, January 28 (KCNA) -- Jang Jae On, chairman of the Korean Council of Religionists, issued a statement Tuesday supporting the appeal of the joint meeting of the DPRK government, political parties and organizations which called for building the structure of the Korean nation's confrontation with the U.S. through practical actions and national cooperation under the uplifted banner of the Korean nation-first spirit to cope with the tense situation created on the Korean peninsula due to the U.S. interference and its moves for aggression. He said:
    The Korean nation's dynamic grand advance to achieve reunification is being challenged and threatened at home and abroad. The paramount task facing the nation at present is to wage a vigorous struggle to protect the dignity and sovereignty of the nation and build the structure of the Korean nation's confrontation with the U.S. through practical actions.
    He called on all the Korean religionists at home and abroad to turn out in the anti-U.S. resistance to protect the dignity and the destiny of the nation and the peace and security of the country irrespective of religious belief and abode under the uplifted slogan of "Let us pave a wide avenue for independent reunification through national cooperation under the banner of our nation-first spirit!"

UN Debate on Japan's Human Rights Abuses Called for

     Pyongyang, January 28 (KCNA) -- Japan has evaded its moral and international responsibility for the hideous human rights abuses committed against the Korean people in the past though more than half a century has passed since the Japanese imperialists defeat. In this regard Rodong Sinmun today in a signed commentary says.
    International law has been violated and ignored and confidence in the United Nations damaged owing to the shamelessness and vulgarity of Japan. This international situation calls upon the UN to positively discuss and settle the human rights abuses committed by Japan before its foundation.
    This is, first of all, because Japan's forcible drafting and crimes related to "comfort women" for the imperial Japanese army in the past were crimes against humanity as they were in breach of Paragraph C of Article 6 of the rules of the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal and Article 5 of the rules of the Tokyo International Far East Tribunal. Japan. Those crimes, therefore, can never escape the UN discussion. They should be taken up by the U.N. in the light of the statutory limitations under international law.
    The convention on the non-applicability of statutory limitations to war crimes and crimes against humankind, which was adopted at the UN General Assembly session on November 26, 1968, clearly stipulates that those limitations shall not be applied to crimes against humanity.
    Paragraph A of Article 17 of "Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance" which was adopted at the UN General Assembly session on December 18, 1992 stipulates that acts constituting enforced disappearance shall be considered as a continuing offence as long as the perpetrators continue to conceal the fate and the whereabouts of persons who have disappeared and these facts remain unclarified.
    The Japanese government is very uncooperative in confirming the forcible drafting committed by the Japanese imperialists in the past and fate and whereabouts of the victims. This should be considered as a continuing offence and, accordingly, relevant organizations of the UN should continue to discuss and settle Japan's forcible drafting and crimes related to the "comfort women" for the imperial Japanese army in the past till the day when the fate and whereabouts of those missing are confirmed.
    Japan's hideous human rights abuses including the forcible drafting in the past are crimes to be discussed and settled at the UN for their criminal nature, content, gravity and durability.
    The UN should take practical measures to immediately deal with and settle Japan's human rights abuses committed before its foundation.

Reception Given by Vietnamese Ambassador

     Pyongyang, January 28 (KCNA) -- Do Thi Hoa, Vietnamese ambassador to the DPRK, hosted a reception Tuesday evening on the occasion of the birthday of leader Kim Jong Il. The ambassador in her speech said the fraternal Korean People's Army and people, under the leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea headed by General Secretary Kim Jong Il, had made significant successes in their efforts to build a great prosperous powerful socialist nation and reunify the country independently.
    The traditional relations of friendship between the parties, governments and peoples of Vietnam and the DPRK were provided by President Kim Il Sung and President Ho Chi Minh and these relations are steadily developing under the deep care of Kim Jong Il and leading cadres of Vietnam, she noted.
    Stating that the peoples of the two countries had always supported each other in close solidarity in their struggle for national liberation and socialist construction over the past half a century or more, she said the Vietnamese people always remembered the moral and material support of the fraternal Korean people to their country and were sincerely thankful for this.
    She wished the fraternal Korean people greater achievements in their efforts to build a great prosperous powerful nation and accomplish the cause of independent and peaceful reunification of the country under the wise guidance of Kim Jong Il.
    Choe Thae Bok, secretary of the WPK Central Committee, in his speech said it was entirely a brilliant result of the distinguished political ability and energetic leadership of Kim Jong Il that the Korean people could firmly defend the Korean-style socialism,pulling through the hither-to unknown "Arduous March" and forced march in recent years.
    The meeting between Kim Jong Il and President Tran Duc Luong in May 2002 opened a new chapter in further developing the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries established by Kim Il Sung and Ho Chi Minh as required by the new century, he said, and declared the DPRK would make strenuous efforts to continue to strengthen the friendly and cooperative relations with the fraternal Vietnamese people in the interest of socialism and the two peoples.
    We are glad to note that the fraternal Vietnamese people are registering significant results in their efforts to step up the industrialization and modernization of the country under the guidance of the Communist Party of Vietnam headed by General Secretary Nong Duc Manh and wish them greater success in the future, he said.
    Present on invitation were Minister of Foreign Trade Ri Kwang Gun and officials concerned.

Successful Nationwide Meetings Suggested

     Pyongyang, January 28 (KCNA) -- The spokesman for the National Reconciliation Council in a press statement Tuesday said the proposal of the joint meeting of the DPRK government, political parties and organizations was a patriotic one making it possible to break through the strained situation today and develop the nationwide movement for an early reunification to a new stage with the might of national cooperation. The statement noted:
    The United States from early this year has been working to totally check the process of reconciliation and reunification of the Korean nation, pressurizing the south Korean authorities to adjust the speed of the improvement of the inter-Korean relations in keeping with the degree of the solution to the nuclear issue. It is none other than the U.S. which is seeking a war, not peace, division, not reunification and confrontation, not reconciliation, on the Korean peninsula.
    The developments today accentuate the urgency of practical shaping of the Korean nation-U.S. confrontation structure on the Korean peninsula. All the Koreans in the north, the south and overseas should decisively frustrate with the might of the nation itself the U.S. criminal scheme to attain its aggressive goal at the sacrifice of the Korean nation.
    The council will resolutely fight against the interference of the U.S., the main obstacle to the work for national reconciliation, unity and cooperation, and make every possible effort for the successful opening of nationwide meetings on the occasions of anniversaries common to the nation this year including the 4th anniversary of the publication of the June 15 joint declaration.

"Bush Doctrine" Criticized

     Pyongyang, January 28 (KCNA) -- O'Neill, former U.S. secretary of Treasury, recently testified that the Iraqi war was planned by the Bush administration in the early days of its office, not after the September 11 incident, and Democratic Senator Kennedy contended that the Bush administration misused the post-incident phobia to distort the truth in a bid to justify the war which could be the worst mistake in the U.S. foreign policy over the past two centuries. Minju Joson Wednesday in a signed commentary says that the "Bush doctrine" is sharply criticized in the U.S. for the adventurous and dangerous nature of the administration's external and security policies.
    The commentary goes on:
    The Bush administration upon its debut on the scene came out with what it called "Bush doctrine" in "national security strategy" report it submitted to Congress in which it confirmed its strategic coordinate in the world as the global superpower and declared it would not tolerate any challenge to its position as the superpower.
    At present the Bush administration is applying the "doctrine of preemptive attacks" to the DPRK despite worldwide denunciation and protest.
    Underlying it is its calculation that its logic of strength based on strong-arm policy and pressure will work on anyone.
    It would be a proper choice for the U.S. itself to consider the characteristics of its opponent and specific conditions in working out its Korea policy.

Potato Farming in DPRK

     Pyongyang, January 28 (KCNA) -- A meeting of forerunners in potato farming, the first of its kind in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is going on in Pyongyang. Potato had been a secondary crop in the country until several years ago. But it has become one of main crops in the era of the Songun politics.
    It is an urgent issue to solve the food shortage by increasing grain production in Korea with many mountains.
    Leader Kim Jong Il, with deep penetration into the country's agricultural situation and the universal trend of agricultural development, gave field guidance to Taehongdan County in Ryanggang Province, a potato producer, and took measures to solve the food problem by producing potato, a high-yield crop, extensively.
    As a result, the county, associated with revolutionary feats of President Kim Il Sung, has turned into a model of potato farming and its experience has been introduced throughout the country.
    Not only the northern highlands including Ryanggang and North Hamgyong provinces but all other agricultural districts in the country are following the example of Taehongdan County.
    @Solid material and technical foundations have been laid for successful potato farming in the country.
    Potato tissue culturing factories built in different parts of the country are paying off and advanced methods have been introduced in potato farming.
    What is an immediate task is to expand potato fields, increase the potato production considerably, process the products in an industrial way and boost the production of potato foodstuffs.
    When the task is carried out, a great progress will be made in solving the food shortage in Korea.

U.S. Brigandish Demand Assailed

     Pyongyang, January 28 (KCNA) -- The U.S. is now pressurizing the south Korean authorities to allow the construction of its embassy premises in the site of the Toksu Palace in Seoul. A signed commentary of Minju Joson Wednesday dismisses this as a hideous criminal act insulting the dignity of the Korean nation and one intended to destroy its spirit.
    The U.S. persistent claim to this site is intended to obliterate the daily growing awareness of national independence of the south Koreans and behave like the "governor general".
    The U.S. act can never be tolerated as it is brigandism intended to deprive the Korean nation of its cultural remains, the commentary says, denouncing the anti-national and flunkeyist acts of the south Korean authorities yielding to its demand.
    The site of the Toksu Palace is one of the irreplaceable historic cultural sites of the Korean nation, the commentary notes, calling on the south Koreans of all walks of life to turn out in the struggle to protect the precious cultural treasures of the nation from the aggressors and retake the sovereignty and dignity of the nation under the banner of the Korean nation-first spirit.

Slogans Reflecting Faith of Korean People

     Pyongyang, January 28 (KCNA) -- The Korean people are striving hard to build a great prosperous powerful nation under the slogans set forth by the joint New Year editorial. The editorial says ten years have passed since the Korean army and people launched a do-or-die struggle for defending the destiny of the motherland, nation and socialism and carrying the cause of President Kim Il Sung to accomplishment with arms under the slogan.
    "The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung will always be with us".
    It is the invariable faith of the servicemen and people to carry forward the ideas and exploits of the President and hold him in high esteem down through generations.
    The editorial also puts forward such slogans as "Let us reach a high stage of the country's prosperity, true to the great Comrade Kim Il Sung's idea and cause!", "Let's make a rapid progress in the economy and science and technology and thus increase the national power in every way!" and "Let us pave a wide avenue for independent reunification through national cooperation under the banner of our nation-first spirit!".
    The slogans mirror the firm will of the Workers' Party and people of Korea to glorify the country as Kim Il Sung's Korea, a prosperous nation, by advancing the revolution under the Songun-based revolutionary leadership of Kim Jong Il. They show their will to further increase the might of the nation by rapidly developing the economy, science and technology which guarantee the victory of socialism materially and technically in the sharp confrontation with the U.S.-led imperialists.
    The slogans also reflect the ardent aspiration and resolution of all the fellow countrymen to register a radical turn in the movement for independence and reunification under the banner of the Korean nation-first spirit.

Kim Yong Nam Meets New Irish Ambassador

     Pyongyang, January 28 (KCNA) -- New Irish Ambassador e.p. to the DPRK Paul Anthony Murray presented his credentials to Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, at the Mansudae Assembly Hall Wednesday. Kung Sok Ung, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, was on hand.
    Kim Yong Nam conversed with the ambassador after receiving the credentials.

For Spanish-speaking people

Pyongyang - centro de artesania fina de hierro de edad antigua

     Pyongyang, 28 de enero (ATCC) -- La zona de Pyongyang de Corea fue un centro de la artesania fina de hierro de la edad antigua. Lo prueban las herramientas de hierro de la edad antigua descubiertas en esta zona.
    En una tumba de ataud de piedra en la comuna de Songsok, distrito de Kangdong, fue descubierto un espejo de hierro del siglo XII a.n.e., y en una tumba de dolmen en la comuna de Hyangmok, arpones, limas y casquillos de flecha de hierro elaborados a eso del siglo VII a.n.e.
    Aquel espejo de hierro es la mas antigua pieza artesanal de hierro, que fue elaborada hace mas de 3000 anos.
    En Pyongyang yacen con abundancia limonita, hematites y otros minerales de hierro. Tal caracter topografico proporciono buenas condiciones para el desarrollo de la artesania fina de hierro.
    El desarrollo de la tecnologia metalurgica ejercio una influencia directa sobre la artesania fina de hierro.
    La tecnica de fundicion de bronce en Corea que empezo a desarrollarse a eso del ano 3000 a.n.e. contribuyo activamente a la produccion de hierro y al desarrollo de piezas artesanales de hierro.

Vocero del CNR declara

     Pyongyang, 28 de enero (ATCC) -- El vocero del Consejo Nacional por la Reconciliacion (CNR) hizo publica el dia 27 una declaracion que senala: La proposicion de la Conferencia Conjunta del Gobierno, los Partidos Politicos y las Organizaciones de la Republica Popular Democratica de Corea constituye una propuesta patriotica que permite superar con el poderio de la cooperacion nacional la situacion aguda de hoy y llevar a una nueva etapa el movimiento pannacional por reunificar la patria lo mas pronto posible.
    Desde principios de este ano, EE.UU. maniobra para detener totalmente el proceso de la reconciliacion y la reunificacion de la nacion coreana, al ejercer presion sobre las autoridades surcoreanas de modo que "moderen" la velocidad de las relaciones Norte-Sur conforme a la marcha de la solucion del problema nuclear.
    EE.UU. no desea la paz, ni la reunificacion ni la reconciliacion, sino persigue la guerra, la division y el enfrentamiento en la Peninsula Coreana.
    La evolucion de la situacion de hoy presenta con mas urgencia la importancia del problema de llevar a la practica en esta peninsula la composicion de confrontacion: la nacion coreana VS. los EE.UU..
    Todo el pueblo coreano del Norte y el Sur de Corea y en ultramar debe frustrar resueltamente con las fuerzas propias de la nacion las maquinaciones criminales de EE.UU. encaminadas a lograr su finalidad agresiva en detrimento de los intereses de la nacion coreana.
    El CNR luchara resueltamente contra las intervenciones de EE.UU. que constituyen un obstaculo principal de la reconciliacion, la unidad y la cooperacion de la nacion y se esforzara activamente por la realizacion exitosa de los encuentros pannacionales con motivo del 4 aniversario de la publicacion de la Declaracion Conjunta del 15 de Junio y otras efemerides comunes de la nacion para este ano.

Guinea: Comite Preparatorio por el 16 de Febrero

     Pyongyang, 28 de enero (ATCC) -- El acto constitutivo del Comite Preparatorio por el 16 de Febrero (cumpleanos del Dirigente Kim Jong Il) tuvo lugar el dia 19 en el edificio del Partido por el Progreso y la Unidad de Guinea. Como presidente del Comite fue electo Sekou Konate, secretario general de ese partido.
    debemos celebrar mas significativamente como fiesta comun de la humanidad el cumpleanos de Su Excelencia Kim Jong Il, gran Dirigente del pueblo coreano, dijo Sekou y anadio que hacerlo asi es la debida obligacion moral de todos ellos mismos quienes desde hace mucho tiempo han venido desarrollando invariablemente los lazos fraternales con el pueblo coreano.
    Estamos firmemente convencidos de que el pueblo coreano, bajo la sabia direccion de Su Excelencia Kim Jong Il, obtendra el triunfo en la lucha por lograr la reunificacion del pais y construir una gran potencia prospera, destaco.
    En el acto fueron discutidos los problemas de organizar diversas actividades, organizar redacciones especiales de prensa y de radio con motivo de esa efemeride.