Attending the meeting were senior officials including Kim Yong Il, Jon Pyong Ho and Choe Thae Bok, others and leading officials of party organs and administrative and economic bodies and officials of institutions, enterprises and farms in provinces, cities and counties, exemplary scientists and technicians and a delegation of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan.

Prior to the meeting, its participants heard the recorded speech "The Duty of Scientists and Technicians in Carrying Out the Technical Revolution" made by President Kim Il Sung at the meeting of scientists and technicians held on March 22, Juche 52 (1963).

Vice-Premier O Su Yong in his report at the meeting said that General Secretary Kim Jong Il set forth the line of attaching importance to science and technology as a strategic line for building a thriving socialist nation and has wisely led the drive for its implementation.

Kim Jong Il published the work "On Thoroughly Implementing the Party's Line of Attaching Importance to Science and Technology," clearly indicating an orientation and ways for rapidly developing the nation's science and technology, the reporter noted, adding: He not only made the traits of attaching importance to science and technology prevail throughout the country but also firmly built strong scientific and technical forces and laid a solid material foundation.

The reporter referred to the great changes brought about in the field of science and technology, pointing out that under the wise leadership of Kim Jong Il the DPRK firmly held the supremacy of CNC technology and kicked off the vigorous drive to seize an unchallenged edge in everything by pushing back the frontiers of science and technology as required by the IT age.

He underlined the need for all the scientists and technicians to make a positive contribution to the development of the nation's science and technology by exploring cutting-edge technology as required by the age of knowledge-based economy and leaping higher and faster.

Speakers at the meeting said that they would successfully solve the scientific and technological problems arising in improving the people's standard of living and developing the overall national economy and put the nation's science and technology on a higher level as required by the age of knowledge-based economy and thus make a positive contribution to fully demonstrating the might of Songun Korea.

An appeal to all the scientists and technicians of the DPRK was adopted at the meeting.

The appeal underlined the need for the scientists and technicians to contribute to solving the problems of food, clothing and housing with great scientific and technological achievements.

It also called for turning the nation's economy into an economy based on CNC and an intensively developed scientific and technological one based on high science and technology so that the independent national economy in the DPRK may have strong competitive power in every aspect in the world and hold worldwide supremacy in all fields.