Present at the lecture were Japanese personages of different social standings, So Chung On, director of the International Affairs and Reunification Department of the Central Standing Committee of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, and other officials of Chongryon and other Koreans in Japan.

Fumihiro Himori, chairman of the Japan Committee for Supporting the Independent and Peaceful Reunification of Korea, spoke first.

Referring to the fact that he visited the DPRK and took part in the celebrations of the diamond jubilee of the Korean people's victory in the great Fatherland Liberation War, he said:

We felt the strong desire of the Korean people to replace the Armistice Agreement with a peace treaty and achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The division of the peninsula and the outbreak of the Korean war were attributable to the colonial rule of Japan.

We should wage a widespread solidarity movement in Japan for the conclusion of a peace treaty desired by the Korean people.

Then a former section chief for regional policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan gave a lecture.

Analyzing the situation on the peninsula strained again due to the recent anti-DPRK moves of the U.S. and south Korean authorities, he disclosed the danger of the "tailored deterrence strategy" which was adopted at the 45th annual security consultative council meeting held in Seoul.

The participants heard reports made by several delegations on their recent visits to the DPRK.

The reporters said that Japan's tough policy toward the DPRK brings nothing helpful for the development of the relations between the two countries, urging the Japanese government to make efforts to establish relations of confidence with the DPRK.

A written request was adopted at the lecture. It urged the Japanese authorities to implement the Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration, lift sanctions against the DPRK and open up a new history of normalization of the Japan-DPRK ties.