Kim Jong Il's Songun Leadership Praised in Indonesia

     Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- The Songun leadership of Kim Jong Il provides a sure guarantee for the building of a great prosperous powerful nation, a new turning point in socialist construction, said the chairman of the Indonesian Marine Transport Trade Union in a statement on Mar. 24 on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of Kim Jong Il's election as chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission. Recalling that the Korean people have reliably defended socialism and achieved great successes in the building of a great prosperous powerful nation under the wise leadership of Kim Jong Il over the last more than one decade, he continued: Kim Jong Il is a great politician leading the Korean people to victory with his Songun politics and by dint of the single-minded unity based on it. nbsp;   The DPRK has defended its sovereignty, reacting to the hard-line of outside forces with a tougher stand.
    We are sure that the DPRK will always emerge victorious under the leadership of Kim Jong Il.

Anti-"Government" Rally Held in S. Korea

     Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- At least 5,000 unionists affiliated to the south Korean Confederation of Trade Unions had an anti-"government" rally in Seoul on Mar. 26 in protest against the "bill on the part-time job" introduced by the south Korean "government" and its negotiations for the conclusion of FTA with the U.S., according to the south Korean KBS. They threatened to call a general strike from the next month if the "government" neither stops the above-said negotiations nor withdraws the bill at once.

Halt to U.S.-S. Korea Joint Military Maneuvers Demanded

     Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) released a statement on March 25 to denounce the U.S. and the south Korean bellicose forces' joint military exercises RSOI and Foal Eagle. It is very clear that those large-scale military exercises are targeted on the DPRK, the statement noted, and continued: The WFTU on behalf of the working class in the Asia-Pacific region bitterly denounces the on-going RSOI and Foal Eagle and strongly demands the U.S. and the south Korean authorities immediately stop working hard to start a war and laying an obstacle to Korea's reunification.
    The Indian Institute for Foreign Policy Studies in a statement on Mar. 26 held that through these military exercises the U.S. seeks to instigate the south Korean bellicose forces to escalate the tension on the Korean Peninsula in a bid to scuttle the six-party talks, bedevil the inter-Korean relations heading for reconciliation under the banner of the June 15 joint declaration and block the independent reunification of Korea. It is entirely just for the Korean people to have built strong nuclear deterrent for self-defence to cope with the U.S. moves for a nuclear war, pursuant to the Songun politics of leader Kim Jong Il, the statement said, expressing positive support and solidarity with the Korean people in their struggle for national reunification.

Friendly Gathering with Russian Embassy Officials Held

     Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- A friendly meeting between officials of the DPRK Foreign Ministry and staff members of the Russian embassy here took place on March 28 on the occasion of the 57th anniversary of the signing of the agreement on economic and cultural cooperation between the DPRK and the Russian Federation. Present there were officials of the DPRK Foreign Ministry and the ambassador and staff members of the Russian embassy.
    The participants talked to each other about the matter of further developing the cooperative relations between the two countries in various fields and had sports and amusement games, deepening friendship.

U.S.-S. Korea Joint Military Exercises Denounced

     Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- The RSOI and Foal Eagle joint military exercises against the DPRK launched by the U.S. imperialists together with the south Korean military bellicose forces on Mar. 25 are a grave challenge to the desire of the people at home and abroad for peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, and they are driving the situation in the region to the brink of confrontation and war. Rodong Sinmun Wednesday says this in a signed commentary. Denouncing them as very reckless and dangerous war drills which destroy the process of dialogue for settlement of the nuclear issue between the DPRK and the U.S. and pose a grave threat to the security of the Korean nation and the cause of Korea's reunification, the commentary says:
    The U.S., in its recent "national security strategy report", pulled up the dignified DPRK again, revealing its scheme to mount a preemptive attack upon the latter. At present, the conflict and friction between the DPRK and the U.S. over the six-party talks for solving the nuclear issue are not likely to be settled but are growing more serious.
    The U.S. has laid artificial obstacles to the talks under the absurd pretext while staging the war gambles against the DPRK.
    The situation is growing tenser than ever before and the prospect of peace and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula appears remote due to the persistent anti-DPRK policy of the U.S. and its moves for a war.
    Nevertheless, the south Korean bellicose forces are recklessly toeing the U.S. line. Aggression troops do not distinguish the north from the south in using nukes and, accordingly, to follow them is as good as inviting a nuclear disaster. The DPRK has clarified more than once that the right to a preemptive attack is not a monopoly of the U.S.
    The U.S. imperialists and the south Korean bellicose forces would be well advised to clearly understand the will of the DPRK and behave with discretion.

Koreans in U.S. Demand Stop to Expansion of U.S. Military Base in S. Korea

     Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- We can never pardon the U.S. moves for the expansion of its military base in Phyongthaek and the south Korean "government's" land expropriation for it in Phyongthaek. The Association of Koreans in Americas, the Federation of Koreans in Americas for Independence, Democracy and Reunification, the Solidarity of Koreans for Peace in the U.S. and other organizations said this in a statement on Mar. 24 in support of the south Korean people's struggle against the expansion of the U.S. military base in Phyongthaek.
    Calling upon all the fellow countrymen at home and abroad to check the moves for the expansion of the U.S. military base in Phyongthaek and achieve the independent reunification and peace of the Korean Peninsula with their united struggle, the statement expressed full support to the residents in Phyongthaek and members of the civic and public organizations in their struggle.
    The statement strongly demanded the Bush administration immediately stop its moves for the expansion of the U.S. military base in Phyongthaek and withdraw the U.S. troops from south Korea and the south Korean "government" authorities stop land expropriation at once.

Great King of Cambodia Hosts Reception

     Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- Great King of Cambodia Norodom Sihanouk on a visit to the DPRK hosted a film show and a reception on Mar. 28. On hand were the great king and queen, Cambodian guests and Chhorn Hay, Cambodian ambassador to the DPRK.
    The great king in a speech prior to the film show extended the most wholehearted thanks to leader Kim Jong Il for helping them produce the film during their visit to the DPRK.
    The film shows the development of the DPRK which has been beautifully changed, the great king said.
    The participants appreciated Cambodian films including feature film "Recovery" made by the great king.
    Then followed the reception, which was addressed by the great king and Yang Hyong Sop, vice-president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly. Present on invitation were Kim Yong Il, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, and others.

Japan Urged to Make Proper Option

     Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan on March 17 approved a "bill on human rights situation in north Korea" and decided to bring it up for discussion at the Diet within this month. The bill calls on the government to compulsorily apply "economic sanctions against north Korea" in case of no progress in the settlement of the "abduction issue". Meanwhile, the Japanese government called a meeting of leading officials of six ministries and agencies such as the Financial Service Agency, the National Police Agency and the Ministry of Economy and Industry on March 15 which discussed the issue of strictly controlling "remittance and export to north Korea." Minju Joson today observes in a signed commentary in this regard: The Japanese reactionaries are keen to suffocate the DPRK economically in a bid to achieve their objective.
    Their behavior clearly suggests their ulterior intention to use an economic lever to do harm to the DPRK. Nothing is more base and disgusting than this folly prompted by a way of thinking of a political dwarf.
    Japan seems to consider economic sanctions as principal leverage for pursuing its policy toward the DPRK though it does not care much.
    Japan must be aware that over the last several decades the DPRK has pushed forward the construction of independent national economy as the basic line of socialist economic construction.
    The Japanese reactionaries are so foolish as to calculate that their application of economic sanctions against the DPRK would bring about a dramatic change there. This, however, only betrays their serious weak point as they are utterly ignorant of the trend of the times.
    The Japanese reactionaries would be well advised to make a proper option, cogitating about whether their confrontation with the DPRK in all areas would do Japan good.

Japanese Security Authorities Hit for Their Campaign against DPRK and Chongryon

     Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- The security department of the Tokyo Police Agency recently searched six places including the Office of the Osaka Prefectural Korean Federation of Workers in Commerce in Japan, dwelling houses and shops of Koreans in Japan allegedly to investigate a Korean businessman who managed a restaurant and his "cooperators" as a person related to the "abduction case" worked there in June 1980. In this regard Minju Joson Wednesday in a signed commentary says: The organizations of the Korean Federation of Workers in Commerce in Japan are economic organizations for protecting the right of business and vital rights of Korean traders and industrialists in Japan and supporting their management activities and, accordingly, they have nothing to do with such case as the "abduction issue". The forcible search is the product of a base plot to link the "abduction issue" with the Osaka Prefectural Korean federation to do harm to the DPRK and Chongryon (the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan).
    As publicly recognized by the international community, the "abduction issue" has already been settled through the DPRK-Japan Pyongyang Declaration but the Japanese reactionaries are persistently raising the issue to use it as a means of slandering the DPRK and Chongryon.
    The forcible search of the office and dwelling houses heralds that the Japanese reactionaries' smear campaign against the DPRK and Chongryon will be more ferocious. The Korean people are not repressing their surging national resentment and enmity against the Japanese reactionaries keen on the smear campaign. If they continue to resort to the smear campaign, they will be held wholly accountable for the grave consequences to be entailed by it.

King Kongmin's Mausoleum, Stone Sculpture Museum

     Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- The mausoleum of King Kongmin in Kaesong City, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is one of the typical cultural heritages of the Korean nation. Kongmin was the 31st king of Koryo (918-1392). The mausoleum is biggest among the tombs of the successive kings of Koryo and was built with much labor. It represents the form of mausoleums in the closing years of Koryo.
    The mausoleum consists of twin stone tombs, one for the king in the west and the other for the queen in the east. It is surrounded by various kinds of stone sculptures. It, therefore, is called "stone sculpture museum".
    The rectangular compound of the mausoleum is treble-terraced and elongated from east to west. It is approached up a slope by broad stairs.
    The upper terrace is 40 meters from east to west and 24 meters from north to south. In the center of the terrace, there are the twin tombs, each standing on the dodecagon stone foundation. The grave mound is about 6.5 meters high and 13.7 meters in diameter. Each grave mound is surrounded at the bottom with wall-like stones on which 12 spirits of terrain including mouse, cow, tiger and rabbit are engraved in relief. There are four statues of civil officials on the middle terrace and four statutes of military officers on the third terrace with two at the end of each side. The statues, about 3.3 meters high, evoke most convincingly the characters that they represent. Their open air setting makes them particularly effective. In bold relief against the mountains looming in the background, they look quite majestic. They are excellent ones among existing old stone sculptures in Korea.
    After looking round the statues, a foreign historian said: it is wonderful that in the Middle Ages, Europeans used marble as the basic material of stone sculpture but Koryo people created such delicate statues with granite solider than marble as the basic material.

Japanese Authorities' Suppression of Chongryon Blasted

     Pyongyang, March 29 (KCNA) -- The public security department of the Tokyo Police Agency mobilized riot police on Mar. 23 to search six places including the Office of the Osaka Prefectural Korean Federation of Workers in Commerce in Japan, Koreans' houses and shops run by them. A spokesman for the DPRK-Japan Friendship Association in a statement Wednesday accused the Tokyo Police Agency of having worked hard to charge the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) with an involvement in what it called "abduction case." It charged even a Korean restaurant owner in Japan with a "conspiracy in the abduction case" in a desperate bid to build up public opinion supporting its claim.
    The statement continued:
    The agency's action was a totally unreasonable provocation intended to meet its sinister political purpose of covering up the crimes Japan perpetrated in the past by inflicting untold misfortune and disasters upon the Koreans, linking the "abduction issue" to Chongryon and putting pressure upon the DPRK.
    It is beyond doubt that the search was carried out at the instruction of the Japanese government authorities.
    It is a well-known fact that the authorities have escalated their campaign against the DPRK and Chongryon since they set up a "law enforcement team" and an "intelligence gathering committee" within a "special team to handle the abduction issue" under the supervision of the Cabinet secretariat.
    The Japanese authorities are becoming evermore undisguised in their suppression and restrictions on Chongryon and Koreans in Japan as evidenced by their unwarranted pressure upon them to pay fixed property tax and such blatant infringement upon the rights of Koreans in Japan by the Immigration Office as preventing them from leaving and reentering Japan.
    If the authorities truly stand for the DPRK-Japan friendship and the normalization of bilateral relations they should immediately stop all forms of suppression of tormenting and threatening Chongryon and Koreans in Japan. They should, at the same time, fully grant them their status as Koreans in Japan and satisfactorily guarantee Chongryon its legitimate activities in the basic spirit of the DPRK-Japan Pyongyang Declaration. We strongly urge the Japanese authorities to take an appropriate measure to prevent the repetition of a similar case.

For Spanish-speaking people

Rodong Sinmun ratifica su rechazo a ejercicios EE.UU.-Sur de Corea

    　Pyongyang, 29 de marzo (ATCC) -- El diario Rodong Sinmun publico en su numero del dia 29 un comentario individual. El "ejercicio combinado de refuerzo para el tiempo de guerra" y el simulacro conjunto "Aguilucho", que despliegan desde el dia 25 los imperialistas norteamericanos junto con las fuerzas belicistas del ejercito surcoreano contra la Republica Popular Democratica de Corea, representan un serio desafio al pueblo coreano y los otros extranjeros que desean la paz y la estabilidad de la Peninsula Coreana y llevan la situacion regional a la fase de confrontacion y guerra, comienza el comentarista y continua: Estos ejercicios belicos sumamente aventureros y peligrosos destruyen el proceso del dialogo para solucionar el problema nuclear entre la RPDC y EE.UU. y amenazan de gravedad la seguridad nacional y la causa de reunificacion del pais. En el recien emitido "informe de la estrategia para la seguridad nacional" EE.UU. volvio a criticar a la digna RPDC y expuso su intencion de darle un golpe preventivo. Por consiguiente, en las conversaciones a 6 bandas, que giran en torno al problema nuclear, no se dan sintomas de relajamiento de confrontacion y friccion y todo va en rumbo opuesto.
    Pues, por una parte, los yanquis ponen escollos artificiales a esta cita con absurdos pretextos y, por la otra, ejercitan la guerra contra la RPDC.
    Debido a la brutal politica hostil y las maniobras belicas contra la RPDC, la situacion se torna mas tensa que nunca y se entenebrecen cada vez mas las perspectivas de la paz y la desnuclearizacion de la Peninsula Coreana.
    Sin embargo, los belicistas surcoreanos se portan imprudentemente siguiendo la batuta del Tio Sam.
    Las armas nucleares en manos de tropas agresoras no saben distinguir al Norte ni al Sur. Por lo tanto, la adhesion a ellas significa buscarse con sus propias manos los desastres nucleares.
    En reiteradas ocasiones, la RPDC dejo en claro que el derecho al ataque preventivo no es algo monopolizado por el imperio.
    Los imperialistas norteamericanos y la cupula belicosa del Sur de Corea deben proceder con sensatez al justipreciar la voluntad de la RPDC.

Acto de comienzo de obra de estacion de purificacion y desague

    　Kaesong, 28 de marzo (ATCC) -- Tuvo lugar el dia 28 en el mismo terreno una ceremonia de colocar primera piedra a la obra de la estacion de purificacion y desague para el suministro de agua a la zona industrial de Kaesong. 　Estuvieron presentes por la parte nortena el titular de la Direccion Central para el Desarrollo de las Zonas Especiales Ju Tong Chan y otros funcionarios y por la parte surena el director de la Corporacion de la Tierra Kim Jae Hyon y otros interesados en la construccion de la zona industrial de Kaesong.
    En el acto los oradores senalaron la necesidad de juntar las fuerzas y talentos del Norte y el Sur en la construccion de la citada estacion que es un objeto importante en la construccion de las infraestructuras de la zona industrial de Kaesong. 　Los participantes recorrieron varios objetos de dicha zona y el Museo de Coryo.

Norodom Sihanouk ofrece proyeccion filmica y banquete

    　Pyongyang, 29 de marzo (ATCC) -- Su Majestad Norodom Sihanouk, gran rey de Cambodia, de visita en Corea, ofrecio el dia 28 una proyeccion filmica y un banquete. 　Estuvieron presentes Su Majestad el gran rey, Su Majestad la Reina, huespedes camboyanos y el embajador extraordinario y plenipotenciario de Cambodia acreditado en Corea, Chhorn Hay.
    　Al hacer uso de la palabra en visperas de la proyeccion filmica, Sihanouk dijo que quisiera agradecer de corazon a su Excelencia Kim Jong Il, Dirigente Supremo de la Republica Popular Democratica de Corea, quien le permitio producir una pelicula durante su visita en Corea y anadio que el film demuestra hermosos aspectos de desarrollo de la RPDC.
    　Los participantes presenciaron la pelicula "Renacimiento" producida por Su Majestad el gran rey y otros filmes camboyanos.
    　Acto seguido, se ofrecio una recepcion, en la cual pronunciaron discursos Norodom Sihanouk y el vicepresidente del Presidium de la Asamblea Popular Suprema de la RPDC Yang Hyong Sop.
    　Fueron invitados el vicecanciller coreano Kim Yong Il y otros funcionarios.