The All-India Forward Bloc, the All-India Youth Organization, the All-India Progressive Peasants' Union, the All-India Students' Front and the Indian Coordinating Centre of the Federation of Trade Unions stressed this in their joint statement on Feb. 26 supporting the statement issued by a spokesman for the Korean Committee of Space Technology as regards the DPRK's preparations for launching the said experimental communications satellite.

Outer space is an asset common to mankind and its use for peaceful purposes has become a global trend, the joint statement said, and went on:

The courageous and industrious Korean people have long and steadily pushed ahead with the work to develop the space science and technology, and succeeded in putting their first experimental satellite Kwangmyongsong-1 into orbit in August 1998.

This is the victory of the WPK and the DPRK government's policy for development of outer space and its peaceful use.

The statement scathingly denounced the U.S. and some other countries for making desperate moves against the DPRK and socialism, spreading the rumor about nonexistent "missile launch" of the DPRK.

We express once again our support for the DPRK's policy for development of outer space and its peaceful use, the statement said.