Greetings to Guinean President
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, sent a message of greetings to Lansana Conte, President of Guinea, on Tuesday on the occasion of the 24th anniversary of the proclamation of the Second Republic in Guinea.
Expressing the belief that the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries would grow stronger in the future, too, Kim Yong Nam in the message wished the Guinean president good health and success in his work to achieve the national unity and the socio-economic development.
DPRK Ambassador to Sweden Appointed
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- Ri Hui Chol was appointed as DPRK ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden, according to a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly.
New Stamps Issued
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- New stamps (a kind of souvenir stamp and a kind of individual stamp) have been issued in the DPRK on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of General Secretary Kim Jong Il's election as chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK.
Printed on the upper part of the stamps are the words "In Commemoration of the 15th Anniversary of the Great Leader Comrade Kim Jong Il's Election as Chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission" and "Juche 82 (1993) - Juche 97 (2008)".
The souvenir stamp carries a photograph of the leader in its center.
Reflected on its lower part are the emblem and flag of the DPRK and monumental edifices.
The individual stamp gives the immortal flower Kimjongilia, the flag of the Workers' Party of Korea, the flag of the DPRK, military colors of the Korean People's Army and others.
A kind of souvenir stamp has been also released on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the publication of the leader's famous work "Theory of Cinematic Art".
Carried on the stamp are the words "In Commemoration of the 35th Anniversary of the Publication of 'Theory of Cinematic Art'" and "April 11, Juche 62 (1973)" and pictures introducing typical Korean feature films.
Poster for 10th Kimilsungia Festival Published
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- A poster for the 10th Kimilsungia Festival to be held on the occasion of the Day of the Sun was brought out.
Seen at the centre of the poster are President Kim Il Sung's old home in Mangyongdae and fascinating and beautiful Kimilsungia in full bloom against the background of sunbeams.
Also printed on the poster are letters "Commemoration of the Day of the Sun" and "10th Kimilsungia Festival" with the emblem, venue and period of the festival.
February 16 Science and Technology Prize Awarded
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- Certificates and medals of February 16 Science and Technology Prize were awarded to scientists, technicians and officials of different scientific institutes and industrial establishments in recognition of their distinguished contributions to the development of the nation's science and technology, the economic construction and the improvement of the standard of people's living. Among them is Ri Ryong Su, a researcher at the Electricity Institute of the State Academy of Sciences.
A ceremony of awarding them took place in Pyongyang on Wednesday. Present there were Choe Thae Bok, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, Ro Tu Chol, vice-premier of the Cabinet, Pyon Yong Rip, president of the State Academy of Sciences, Kim Yong Jin, minister of Education, and others.
Flower-Goldfish Shops Abustle with Crowds
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- The flower-goldfish shops in Pyongyang are crowded with people.
The various kinds of flowers and rare ornamental fishes of the shops in Moranbong, Pothongmun, Sinwon and other parts of the city attract lots of people.
Seen before the flower counters are young men who buy flowers to be presented to parents, teachers and wives on their birthdays and women who are chatting about flowers to ornament rooms with flowers in a cultural way.
Conspicuous before goldfish counters are working people and schoolchildren who buy fish bowls, goldfish, Pterophyllum eimekei and Lebistes reticulatus for the purpose of room decoration, ornament and observation.
Ri Ryon Sim, chief of the Pothongmun Flower-Goldfish Shop, told KCNA that her shop is crowded every day with people who buy or order various flowers and ornamental fishes, adding that the demand for various kinds of flowers is further growing this spring.
Rodong Sinmun on Three Charters for National Reunification
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- The three charters for national reunification laid down by President Kim Il Sung are a precious legacy bequeathed by him to the Korean nation as they are the fruition of his patriotic theory and extraordinary ideological and theoretical activities based on it.
Rodong Sinmun Wednesday says this in a signed article.
It goes on:
The three charters for national reunification serve as a banner for national reunification to be consistently maintained and implemented by the Korean nation for accomplishing the cause of the country's reunification and the most fair and realistic common reunification programme of the Korean nation for achieving the independent and peaceful reunification of the country.
The three principles for national reunification--independence, peaceful reunification and great national unity--laid down by the President are the cornerstone of the policy for national reunification.
The principle of independence is a key issue related to the destiny of the country and the nation and a starting-point of the reunification movement.
The struggle for national reunification to settle the national issue would be unthinkable without national independence.
The principle of peaceful reunification indicates basic ways of settling the reunification issue in conformity with the unanimous desire of all compatriots.
There can be no other way for achieving national reunification but peaceful reunification.
The principle of great national unity represents action guidelines for letting all Koreans unite as one under the banner of national reunification.
The 10-point programme of the great unity of the whole nation advanced by the President serves as a political programme for strengthening the driving force for national reunification and a library for the great national unity.
The proposal for founding the Democratic Federal Republic of Koryo put forward by the President serves as a blueprint for achieving national reunification as it indicates the way of settling the issue of national reunification in a most fair and smooth manner.
The Korean nation is now waging a dynamic struggle for independent reunification, holding aloft the banner of the June 15 joint declaration and "By our nation itself" based on the three charters for national reunification, true to the leadership of Kim Jong Il over the movement for national reunification.
Japanese Reactionaries' Anti-DPRK, Anti-Chongryon Campaign Blasted
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- The Japanese reactionaries are kicking up a row, crying out in chorus for extending the sanctions against the DPRK if there is no progress in the discussion on the nuclear issue and abduction issue. They are, at the same time, becoming evermore outrageous in their moves to suppress Koreans in Japan and the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon).
Rodong Sinmun Wednesday in a signed commentary carried in this regard terms such moves of the Japanese reactionaries an unpardonable criminal act of infringing upon the sovereignty and dignity of the DPRK and a poor charade intended to tide over their present political crisis and prolong their remaining days.
The Japanese reactionaries are leaving no means untried to drive the situation on the Korean Peninsula and the DPRK-Japan relations to the extreme pitch of tension in a bid to have a chance to achieve their sinister purpose.
Their reckless campaign of suppression against Chongryon is part of their moves to achieve the above-said objective.
They have become desperate in their moves to destroy even Chongryon, not content with cracking down upon Koreans in Japan in defiance of the requirements of international law and ethics and morality. Their moves to seize buildings of Chongryon, in particular, indicate that their moves to bring the Korean community in Japan to a collapse have reached the worst danger line.
Now the political situation in Japan is characterized by mayhem and crisis. Fierce are the confrontation and enmity between the political forces, ruling and opposition parties, all keen to realize their wild ambitions to exercise power by taking the initiative in politics.
Upset by this, the Japanese reactionaries are foolishly seeking to prolong the remaining days of their political careers by leading elsewhere the Japanese people's discontent and criticism of them through the extended sanctions against the DPRK and intensified crackdown upon Chongryon.
The above-said moves on the part of the Japanese reactionaries would only leave them more miserably forsaken by the people and put their political destiny at greater peril.
It is foolish of Japan to pin any hope on the sanctions against the DPRK.
Japan Urged to Settle Its Crime-Woven Past
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) --What happened in the past may be easily forgotten with the passage of time but the crimes committed by the Japanese imperialists in Korea after occupying it in the last century were so hideous that the Korean people can never forget them no matter how much water may flow under the bridge.
Rodong Sinmun Wednesday says this in a signed commentary carried 70 years since the Japanese imperialists fabricated the "Law on National Mobilization" for the purpose of putting human and material resources under requisition for their continental aggression when Korea was under their colonial rule.
They fabricated the above-said law to plunder Korea after illegally depriving it of its sovereignty and imposed conscription, compulsory labor and sexual slavery upon Koreans on the strength of the law. These were unpardonable and most hideous abductions as they brought to light their aggressive, brutal and brigandish nature, the commentary notes, and goes on:
Any violator of international law is liable to punishment under this law without exception. No statute of limitations is applicable to the crimes against humanity. Japan can never escape this punishment for those crimes. But the Japanese reactionaries have so far made desperate efforts to evade the responsibility for them and have refused to admit them and make apology and reparation for those hideous crimes in the past.
What should not be overlooked is that they have become frantic in their moves against the DPRK and the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, pursuant to the U.S. imperialists' hostile policy toward the DPRK, while persistently peddling the "abduction issue" that had already found a solution. This betrays their criminal intention to realize without fail their ambition to stage a comeback to Korea.
The Korean people, who set store by the dignity of the Korean nation, will certainly force the Japanese reactionaries to pay for those crimes as they challenge the DPRK, persistently sidestepping the unprecedented crimes committed by the Japanese imperialists.
Lee Myung Bak and His Gentries' Treacherous Outbursts under Fire in S. Korea
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- The Democratic Labor Party, the Solidarity for Implementing the South-North Joint Declaration, the People for Achieving Peace and Reunification, the Thongil Square, the Federation of Peasants' Associations and other political parties and civic and public organizations in south Korea called a press conference in Seoul on March 28 at which they denounced the treacherous and anti-reunification outbursts let loose by Lee Myung Bak and his gentries, pushing the inter-Korean relations to a collapse.
At the press conference speakers accused the Lee Myung Bak group of letting loose a spate of reckless remarks recently such as they would not implement the October 4 declaration unless there is no progress in the settlement of the nuclear issue of the north and they would pressurize the north by tightening the south Korea-U.S. alliance.
The speakers went on to say:
Some days ago, Lee blustered that there would be no negotiations with the north contrary to the people's will. He instructed officials concerned of the Ministry of Unification to make neither proposal related to the north nor contact with it before the talks with the U.S. This is, in fact, a total denial of the June 15 joint declaration and the October 4 declaration.
The minister of Unification, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the south Korean forces, the minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade and other anti-reunification conservatives who are holding important posts of the present "government" are vied with each other to bluster that they would link the inter-Korean economic cooperation with the settlement of the nuclear issue of the north and mount a preemptive strike at its nuclear bases, thus openly inciting confrontation between compatriots.
In a word, the present ruling authorities' policy toward the north has reached a danger line, the speakers noted, warning that the Lee Myung Bak group would be held wholly accountable before all Koreans for all the consequences to be entailed by their frenzied moves to deter the inter-Korean relations from developing and bring back the present relations to those in the past era of the Cold War-minded confrontation.
Settlement of Issue of Registration Fee Demanded in S. Korea
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- The Students Committee for Educational Measures of south Korea called a press conference in Seoul on March 26 demanding the authorities take immediate measures for the settlement of the issue of registration fee at universities.
At the press conference speakers accused the authorities of taking no measures though students and their parents are undergoing misfortune and pain due to the snowballing registration fee at the universities.
Recalling that at least 70,000 students from across south Korea have conducted signature campaigns calling for the settlement of the issue of registration fee in the past one month, they declared that they would send protest postcards produced in this course to "Chongwadae" and all universities.
At the end of the press conference the organization conveyed to "Chongwadae" at least 20,000 protest postcards which call for measures to freeze registration fees for 2008, the provision of educational finance and the introduction of the system for setting a limit to the registration fee, etc.
GNP's Corruption and Irregularities under Fire in S. Korea
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- The Solidarity for Progress of south Korea made public a statement on March 28 condemning the Grand National Party of south Korea for its corruption and irregularities.
The statement recalled that a candidate for the "national assembly election" from the GNP was exposed on the scene on March 24 while distributing money and valuables in secrecy. The corruption of the GNP is so deeply rooted that "money-manipulated election" is inseparable from it, it said.
The art of corruption and irregularities has been carried forward and developed by the GNP throughout its history, the statement said, adding that the GNP published it would conduct "moral nominations" for the "national assembly election" but the recent case clearly indicated that its moral standard was nothing but the distribution of money.
The recent case clearly revealed once again the approach and stand of the GNP toward the "national assembly election," it concluded.
Japanese Authorities' Brutal Suppression of Koreans under Fire
Pyongyang, April 2 (KCNA) -- The Japanese authorities, political dwarfs, are a group of criminals, as they are intensifying the inhuman and immoral suppression of Koreans in Japan instead of making an apology and reparation to them.
The Federation of Koreans in the U.S. charged this in a statement released on Mar. 27.
It went on:
The Japanese authorities are hell-bent on the wholesale suppression of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), a cradle for them and their legitimate organization, instead of implementing the DPRK-Japan Pyongyang Declaration.
The Korean nation can never forget Japan's aggression and plunder and all kinds of crimes committed by it against Koreans in Japan, the statement noted, adding that it will be sternly judged by history for being a group of profiteering scoundrels which reneged on its international commitments.
The statement demanded the Japanese authorities stop its foolish sanctions against the DPRK and the inhuman suppression of Chongryon and Koreans in Japan, lift the embargo on the ship Mangyongbong-92, halt their acts of hindering the six-party talks for peace in Northeast Asia and immediately implement the above-said declaration.
Urging Japan, a war criminal state, to make honest apology and adequate reparation to the Korean nation and Koreans in Japan and strive hard to properly settle its past, the statement declared that the federation would stage solidarity actions with the Japanese regional committee for implementing the June 15 joint declaration and world organizations for defending human rights and peace till the above-said demands are met.
Japan Urged to Lift Sanctions against DPRK
Tokyo, March 31 (KNS-KCNA) -- A rally of Koreans in the Kinki area was held in Osaka on March 28 urging Japan to lift its unreasonable sanctions against the DPRK.
Present there were Ko Tok U, vice-chairman of the Central Standing Committee and chairman of the Rights and Welfare Committee of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), and others and representatives of Japanese political parties and public organizations.
Kim Pong Hyong, chairman of the Osaka Prefectural Headquarters of Chongryon, made a report at the rally which was followed by indignation speeches of Korean residents from all walks of life.
They held that the Japanese government should drop its hostile policy toward the DPRK and lift the sanctions against it at an early date. And they called upon all Koreans in Japan to wage a vigorous struggle against the unreasonable suppression of Chongryon and Korean residents.
Then, speeches of solidarity were made by several personages of Japan and messages of solidarity from Japanese organizations of various circles introduced.
Meanwhile, officials of leading organizations, enterprises and Tokyo metropolitan, Nishi Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama and Nagano prefectural headquarters of Chongryon and Korean residents staged demonstrations outside the Japanese Diet building in Tokyo on March 27 and 28, in protest against the Japanese authorities' moves for extending the unreasonable sanctions on the DPRK.
They waged sit-in strikes, holding large placards carrying such letters as "No extension of sanctions! Immediate lifting!" and "'Mangyongbong-92' is a ship for humanitarianism! Don't deprive of freedom of visit to homeland!"
The strikes were joined in by Sumiko Shimizu, representative of the Japanese Women's Society for Solidarity with the Korean Women, and other Japanese women and representatives of the Nagano Prefectural People's Council for Supporting the Independent and Peaceful Reunification of Korea.
For Spanish-speaking people
Kim Yong Nam regresa a Pyongyang
Pyongyang, 2 de abril (ATCC) -- El presidente del Presidium de la Asamblea Popular Suprema de la Republica Popular Democratica de Corea, Kim Yong Nam, regreso el dia primero a la patria por avion especial tras finalizar una visita oficial y de amistad a la Republica de Namibia, la Republica de Angola, la Republica Democratica del Congo y la Republica de Uganda.
Le acompanaron el canciller Pak Ui Chun, el ministro de Salud Publica Choe Chang Sik y otros acompanantes.
En el aeropuerto Kim y su comitiva fueron recibidos por el vicepresidente del Presidium de la APS Yang Hyong Sop, el vicecanciller Kim Hyong Jun, el viceministro de Comercio Exterior Ri Myong San, el viceministro de Salud Publica Ri Pong Hun y el embajador chino en Corea Liu Xiaoming.
Nombrado nuevo embajador coreano en Suecia
Pyongyang, 2 de abril (ATCC) -- Segun un decreto del Presidium de la Asamblea Popular Suprema de la Republica Popular Democratica de Corea, Ri Hui Chol, fue designado como nuevo embajador extraordinario y plenipotenciario coreano a acreditarse en el Reino de Suecia
Afiche por X Festival de Kimilsungias
Pyongyang, 2 de abril (ATCC) -- Se dio a luz el afiche por el X Festival de Kimilsungias que tendra lugar con motivo del Dia del Sol (15 de abril, cumpleanos del Presidente Kim Il Sung).
En el centro del afiche se ven la casa natal del Presidente en Mangyongdae y la Kimilsungia hermosa en pleno florecimiento tomando por fondo los rayos del Sol.
Tambien estan escritas las letras "Conmemoracion del Dia del Sol", "X Festival de Kimilsungias" y las alusivas al lugar y el periodo y dibujada la insignia del festival.
Rodong Sinmun condena maniobras anti-RPDC de Japon
Pyongyang, 2 de abril (ATCC) -- En estos dias, los reaccionarios japoneses anuncian publica y unanimemente que alargarian la sancion contra la Republica Popular Democratica de Corea si no hay avance en el problema nuclear y el del secuestro, al mismo tiempo que recrudecen la campana represiva a los coreanos residentes en Japon y a la Chongryon (Asociacion General de Coreanos Residentes en Japon).
En un comentario individual divulgado este miercoles, el diario Rodong Sinmun califica tal conducta de un crimen imperdonable que atenta la soberania y la dignidad de la RPDC y de una farsa para salvarse de la crisis politica.
Ellos utilizan todos los medios y posibilidades para agravar al extremo la situacion de la Peninsula Coreana y las relaciones Corea-Japon y buscar una oportunidad para alcanzar sus malvados objetivos, denuncia el comentarista y prosigue:
De ahi que reprimen salvajemente a los coreanos radicados en ese pais isleno despreciando las exigencias del derecho internacional y las normas eticas y morales e intentan eliminar fisicamente a la misma Chongryon.
En particular, llegan a la peor fase las maniobras de los reaccionarios japoneses para arrebatar el edificio-sede de la Chongryon y destruir la comunidad coreana en Japon.
Ahora la situacion politica de Japon caye en disturbios y crisis.
En la sociedad japonesa se tornan agudas la confrontacion y la pugna entre las fracciones politicas y entre los partidos gobernante y opositores por el control politico y el poder, lo cual produce el descontento de los habitantes japoneses.
Los reaccionarios japoneses tratan de distraer la mirada critica clavada en si mismos al dar prorroga a las medidas de sancion anti-RPDC y arreciar la represion contra la Chongryon. De esta manera, quieren alargar los dias contados de su sucia vida politica.
Pero, por efecto del prolongamiento de la sancion anti-RPDC y el recrudecimiento de la presion anti-Chongryon, ellos seran mas abandonados por los habitantes japoneses y su destino politico correra mayor peligro.
Parece que ellos piensan que podrian conseguir alguna concesion sancionando a la RPDC. Pero, esto nunca sucedera.