Bugger it

I don't have time for this.

But I think these few entries are a nice, polite little "fuck you" to the MIC.

August 23 2006

Rodong Sinmun Criticizes "Ulji Focus Lens" Joint Military Exercises
Pyongyang, August 23 (KCNA) -- The "Ulji Focus Lens" joint military exercises, which the U.S. instigated the south Korean bellicose forces to stage from August 21, are a preliminary war to perfect the battle command and operation system of the aggression forces and complete preparations for a war on the basis of the new military policy against the DPRK. Rodong Sinmun Wednesday says this in a signed commentary.
The exercises were prompted by the adventurous attempt of the U.S. imperialist warmongers to lead the standoff between the DPRK and the U.S. to a war, the commentary points out, and goes on:
The internal and external war hawks asserted that the war exercises are to train the procedure of cooperation between the U.S. troops and the south Korean army in case of emergency on the Korean Peninsula. Their alleged "emergency on the Korean Peninsula" means the second Korean war to be ignited by the U.S. on the basis of such scenarios as "Ulji Focus Lens".
There are no forces of war threatening south Korea in the Korean Peninsula at present.
Never should it go unnoticed that the pro-American warlike forces of south Korea have joined in the war exercises for aggression to harm fellow countrymen, following the U.S. imperialists in their moves to provoke a nuclear war against the north. This is an anachronistic act contrary to the demand and interests of the nation and the June 15 era of reunification and harmful to the inter-Korean relations.
The U.S. imperialists and the south Korean warmongers should give up their attempt to invade the north, bearing in mind our warnings.

Pamphlet "Foundation of DPRK" Off Press in Peru
Pyongyang, August 23 (KCNA) -- The National Association of Writers and Artists of Peru brought out the article titled "Foundation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" written by Estuardo Martines Perez, vice-chairman of the General Kim Jong Il Peruvian Amicable Institute who is first vice-chairman of the association, in pamphlet on August 16 on the occasion of the 58th anniversary of the foundation of the DPRK. The pamphlet said that the Korean nation with a 5,000-year-long history is a homogeneous nation having the same blood, language, culture and custom and the long-standing culture of Korea made a great contribution to the progress in different countries of Asia.
The foundation of the DPRK on September 9, 1948 enabled the Korean people to emerge a proud master of the country and a most dignified and independent people in the world, it noted, and continued:
Over the last several decades since its foundation the DPRK has demonstrated its might as a socialist power which no one can provoke and a country of Juche where the happiness of the people is in full bloom under the wise leadership of President Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.
Kim Jong Il has bolstered the Korean People's Army in every way with his Songun politics, defending the security of the country and people and the world socialist cause.
The Koreans will surely achieve the independent and peaceful reunification of the country under his wise guidance.

More about DPRK Introduced by Internet
Pyongyang, August 23 (KCNA) -- The Association for Friendship with the Korean People which has its headquarters in Spain posted a photo of Kim Jong Il and several articles on its Internet homepage "One Korea Network." The homepage posted his aphorism "The Country's Reunification Precisely Means Patriotism and the Struggle for the Country's Reunification Is the Greatest Patriotic Struggle" and explained it.
An article titled "Benefit from Songun" notes that the great Songun policy serves as an all-powerful treasured sword for protecting the Korean Peninsula from a nuclear disaster and guaranteeing a bright future of the reunified country and peace.
An article titled "Folk Tradition in Full Bloom in the Songun Era" says that the unique folk tradition of the Korean nation with a time-honored history spanning 5,000 years has further effloresced and developed in the Songun era.

Single-minded Unity of DPRK Lauded
Pyongyang, August 23 (KCNA) -- No force on earth can break the single-minded unity of the DPRK and even nukes will prove helpless before its great might. Alejandro Cao De Benos, chairman of the Association for Friendship with the Korean People which has its headquarters in Spain and branches in at least 100 countries, said this when interviewed by KCNA in Pyongyang on August 21. He went on:
The DPRK, though small in its territory and population, has demonstrated its dignity and might to the world. This is attributable to the might of the single-minded unity of the army and the people around Kim Jong Il.
His Songun leadership has further cemented the single-minded unity of the leader, the Party and the masses in the DPRK.
The Korean people are foiling the U.S.-led imperialist allied forces' moves to isolate and stifle the DPRK, defending the sovereignty of the country and dynamically speeding up the building of a great prosperous powerful socialist nation with the might of the single-minded unity around their leader. This has struck the world with admiration.
Unshakable are the faith and will of the Korean people working hard to build a great prosperous powerful nation and reunify the country with the might of the single-minded unity of the leader, the army and the people, tightly holding arms.
The army and the people of the DPRK single-mindedly united around Kim Jong Il, great brilliant commander of Songun, are sure to win in the confrontation with the U.S.
Referring to the fact that his association has widely introduced the personality of Kim Jong Il as a great man on its Internet homepage on various occasions, he stressed that the association would conduct widespread activities for positively supporting the Korean people in their just cause of building a great prosperous powerful nation and achieving the country's reunification in the future, too.

Celebration Meetings Held
Pyongyang, August 23 (KCNA) -- Celebration meetings were held by youths and students and agricultural workers on the occasion of the 46th anniversary of Kim Jong Il's start of Songun revolutionary leadership. Reports and speeches were made at the celebration meeting held by youths and students in Pyongyang on August 22 and the meeting held by agricultural working people in front of the statue of President Kim Il Sung at the Pochonbo Revolutionary Battle Site on August 21.
Recalling that Kim Jong Il left the momentous first footsteps of Songun revolutionary leadership by visiting the Guard Seoul Ryu Kyong Su 105 Tank Division on August 25, Juche 49 (1960), the reporters and speakers stressed that it was a meaningful event of great significance in strengthening and developing the Korean revolutionary armed forces and accomplishing the revolutionary cause of Juche.
They noted that after starting Songun revolutionary leadership, he saw to it that the Party's leadership system was firmly established in the Korean People's Army and trained the army to be a stout vanguard unit devotedly defending the leader and matchless combat ranks through decades and centuries.
Present at the meetings was Kim Jung Rin, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.

Anti-U.S., Anti-War Struggle Called for in S. Korea
Pyongyang, August 23 (KCNA) -- Jang Song Hoe, chairman of the south Korean Federation of University Student Councils, reportedly issued a special appeal titled "Let us make the banner of 'By our nation itself' our faith and devote worthwhile youth to the anti-U.S. and anti-war struggle" on August 3. The ceaseless U.S. war moves are further straining the situation of the Korean Peninsula and blocking the development of the inter-Korean relations and the movement for national reunification, the appeal said, calling on all the fellow countrymen to conduct a vigorous movement against the U.S. and war, keeping in mind the idea of "By our nation itself" as their faith.
The appeal called upon the students to take the lead in the struggle for independent reunification against the U.S. and war under the uplifted banner of "By our nation itself."

Drop to Plan for Removal of Houses Called for in S. Korea
Pyongyang, August 23 (KCNA) -- The All-People Measure Committee for Checking the Expansion of the U.S. Military Base in Phyongthaek of south Korea reportedly made public a statement on August 18 in connection with the "government's" official announcement of the projected removal of dwelling houses from Taechu-ri and Todu-ri in August. The forcible dishousing is accompanied by human rights abuse by violence, the statement said, denouncing the "government" for making no scruple of perpetrating nonsensical action to hand Phyongthaek over to the U.S. for its military base.
The organization will resolutely foil the moves of the U.S. and the south Korean "government" for expansion of the U.S. military base in Phyongthaek by pooling the efforts of all the people who aspire after peace and human rights, said the statement.
It urged the south Korean "government" to drop its plan for dishousing in Taechu-ri and Todu-ri and withdraw military forces from Phyongthaek at once.

Honorary Guests, Foreign Teams and Players Arrive for 2nd International Martial Arts Games
Pyongyang, August 23 (KCNA) -- Honorary guests of the 2nd International Martial Arts Games arrived here Tuesday. Among them were Leong Wai Meng, vice-chairman of the International Martial Arts Games Committee, Panagiotis Koutrobas, president of the International Pankration Federation, M. H. Abid, secretary general of the World Oriental Federation, Santiprharp Intaraphartn, vice-president of the World Muaythai Federation. Among the earlier arrivals here were honorary guests Farid Naghdi, representative of the Presidential Office in the Ministry of Physical Education of Iran, Mohammad Ghasem Manouchehri, president of the World Federation of Kick-Boxing, and Jong Yon Wu, director of the Field Operation International Canada.
Arriving on the same day for the games were teams and delegates from Greece, South Africa, New Zealand, Russia, Mongolia, Bulgaria, Venezuela, Slovakia, Ireland, Britain, Australia, Austria, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, India, Ethiopia, China, Hong Kong of China, the Czech Republic, Cambodia, Thailand, France, Scotland, England and other countries and regions and executive members of the International Martial Arts Games Committee and delegates of different international and national martial arts organizations.
Earlier, teams and delegates of different countries including Iran, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan and Mexico arrived here.

Meeting Marks 70th Anniversary of Art Performance Given in Manjiang
Pyongyang, August 23 (KCNA) -- A meeting was held at the Central Youth Hall Wednesday to mark the 70th anniversary of the art performance given in Manjiang under the guidance of President Kim Il Sung. Kim Pyong Hun, chairman of the Central Committee of the General Federation of the Unions of Literature and the Arts of Korea, in his report referred to the fact that Kim Il Sung organized an art performance in Manjiang to revolutionize the village after wiping out the enemy stationed there in the latter half of August Juche 25 (1936) when he was advancing into the homeland, leading the main unit of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army (KPRA) to implement the policy of the Nanhutou Meeting.
The President personally authored the libretto of the revolutionary drama "Sea of Blood," a famous masterpiece, and solved problems arising in the acting one by one during the march to Manjiang and made sure that art performances deep in ideological content and with peculiar strong artistic effect were given for the people in the village.
After watching revolutionary dramas during the performance, villagers vied with each other to mount the stage either to volunteer to join the KPRA or vow to devote themselves to assisting it, the reporter said, and went on:
The art performance in Manjiang encouraged so many people to join the KPRA and helped turn the village into a reliable logistic base for it. It represented the greatest success in the performing art during the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle as it successfully embodied the Juche-based theory of literature and art created by the President and comprehensively dealt with the achievements and experience gained in the creation of the anti-Japanese revolutionary literature and art.
Kim Jong Il, regarding the revolutionary traditions established by the President as a cornerstone and lifeline, lit the torch to start the literary and art revolution and resolutely defended the tradition of the anti-Japanese revolutionary literature and art and developed in depth it as required by the process of modeling the whole society on the Juche idea. He thus ushered in a new era of renaissance of epoch-making significance on this land.
The reporter called upon all the creators and artistes to further develop the Korean literature and art into a powerful driving force of the Songun revolution and positively contribute to the building of a great prosperous powerful socialist nation and accomplishing the revolutionary cause of Juche.
Present at the meeting were Minister of Culture Kang Nung Su and other officials concerned, officials guiding the creative work in the fields of literature and art, creators, artistes, teachers, researchers, journalists and editors.

New Nano-Tech Products Made in DPRK
Pyongyang, August 23 (KCNA) -- The Laser Institute under the State Academy of Sciences of the DPRK have recently developed water disinfector for home use and functional sterilizing toothbrush with the help of nano technology. The water disinfector does not need electricity, heat and reagent but relies on the pollution-free pasteurization technique of the fifth generation belonging to the category of cold disinfection.
The State Hygienic Inspection Institution, Academy of Medical Science and Central Hygienic Prevention Center have proved that the water passed through the water disinfector definitely reaches the state hygienic standard water.
The mineral matters of the sterilized water turn into ones that can be easily absorbed into the human body and the hardness of the water is lowered to increase digestion rate.
The functional sterilizing toothbrush is made with the application of the strong sterilizing power and organic matter dissolution feature of the nano antibiotics.
While other toothbrushes of that kind have the bristles wrapped with nano antibiotics only in the surface, the bristles of the new one are made in compound with nano antibiotic materials, thus keeping the sterilizing power.
The toothbrush prevents and cures oral diseases including Riggs' disease and dental caries and removes halitosis.
These products are mass-produced in the Pyongyang Daily Necessities Factory, Sinuiju Cosmetic Factory and other factories.

Book "Common Knowledge on Korean National Music" Published
Pyongyang, August 23 (KCNA) -- The February 16 Art Education Publishing House in the DPRK has issued the book "Common Knowledge on Korean National Music"(Vol.1). The book introduces the musical heritage of the Korean people and the successes of the national music which has rapidly developed after the national liberation.
The part "Classification of Korean Folk Song" illustrates the conception, content and the general character of folk songs with examples.
Given in the book are various kinds of general knowledge including "Janggo (long Korean drum) and Drum", "Modern Folk Songs and Creational Origin of 'Nodul Riverside'" and "Famous Folk Song 'Ryonggang Kinari' in Northwestern Area and Its Legend", categories, forms, origins of creation, singing method (playing method) of the national music and legends and anecdotes associated with it.
It will give deeper knowledge on the national music to music-lovers and other working people and even to experts.

2nd International Martial Arts Games Open
Pyongyang, August 23 (KCNA) -- The 2nd International Martial Arts Games were opened with splendor at the Taekwon-Do Hall in Chongchun Street of Pyongyang Wednesday. The first games were held in Pyongyang in September 2004. The current games brought together at least 500 players and delegates from more than 40 countries and regions.
The games will involve various martial art games such as Taekwon-Do, the orthodox martial art of the Korean nation, Paduk, Korean Wrestling, Pankration, Muaythai, Kick-boxing, Wushu and Karate. There will be also exhibition performances of Hapkido, dragon dance, etc.
Present at the opening ceremony were Yang Hyong Sop, vice-president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, Kim Jung Rin, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, Mun Jae Dok, chairman of the Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Commission, Pang Chol Gap, chairman of the Pyongyang City People's Committee who is chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Second International Martial Arts Games, Jong Jae Hun, secretary general of the International Martial Arts Games Committee, Hwang Pong Yong, chairman of the Korean Taekwon-Do Committee who is chairman of the Korean Martial Arts Federation, and officials concerned.
Also present were Jang Ung, president of the International Taekwon-Do Federation and chairman of the International Martial Arts Games Committee who is representative of the International Olympic Committee, honorary guests including Inoki Kanji, director of the Inoki Office, Japan, Leong Wai Meng, vice-chairman of the International Martial Arts Games Committee, Farid Naghdi, representative of the Presidential Office in the Ministry of Physical Education of Iran, Mohammad Ghasem Manouchehri, president of the World Federation of Kick-Boxing, Panagiotis Koutrobas, president of the International Pankration Federation, M. H. Abid, secretary general of the World Oriental Federation, Santiprharp Intaraphartn, vice-president of the World Muaythai Federation, Jong Ji Hae, director general of the Korean Amateur Athletic Federation in Japan, Jong Yon Wu, director of the Field Operation International Canada and other delegates of different international martial arts federations and national martial arts organizations and diplomatic envoys and embassy officials of different countries here and other foreign guests.
The Korean women in beautiful national dresses carrying the flag of the Second International Martial Arts Games entered the hall to be followed by teams of players and delegates of different countries including Greece, South Africa, New Zealand, Denmark, Russia, Mongolia, Mexico, Bulgaria, Venezuela, Slovakia, Ireland, Australia, Austria, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Iran, India, Vietnam, Ethiopia, China, Hong Kong of China, the Czech Republic, Canada, Cambodia, Thailand, France, Kyrgyzstan, Cyprus, Scotland, England and regions and team of the DPRK, team of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan and referees of the games.
The chairman of the organizing committee of the games made an opening address.
Amidst the playing of the song "Thee dove fly high" the flag of the games was hoisted.
Yang Hyong Sop said in his congratulatory speech that the Second International Martial Arts Games to be held here thanks to the unanimous desire and will of the world martial art practitioners desirous of building a new peaceful world in the idea of independence, peace, friendship and solidarity will greatly please and encourage the Korean people all out in the general march for national reunification and building a great prosperous powerful socialist nation, single-mindedly united around Kim Jong Il.
He expressed conviction that the games would provide the martial art practitioners and fans around the world with a meaningful occasion of swapping the noble spirit, excellent technique, achievements and experience and deepening the friendship.
Jang Ung, member of the International Olympic Committee, conveyed the congratulatory message to the games sent by Jaques Rogger, president of the committee.
Leong Wai Meng said in his congratulatory speech that holding the games in Pyongyang would demonstrate the unanimous will of the world martial art practitioners and fans to make a new history of the martial arts games centering around Korea where the first torch of martial arts was lit and the appearance of the united martial art practitioners.
He stressed that the International Martial Arts Games Committee would make every possible effort to boost the unity and cooperation among martial art organizations in different countries of the world and develop martial arts on the principle of mutual respect and confidence.
There were at the ceremony colorful performances of the Korean women's brass band and artistes and exhibition presentations by Taekwon-Do instructors and players in connection with the opening of the games.

Flame of 2nd International Martial Arts Games Kindled
Pyongyang, August 23 (KCNA) -- A ceremony of kindling the flame of the second International Martial Arts Games was held Wednesday in front of the Taekwon-Do Hall in Chongchun Street, Pyongyang. As more than 500 players and representatives from over 40 countries and regions arrived at the brightly-lit venue, the women's band, people from all walks of life and sports fans in Pyongyang enthusiastically welcomed them.
The ceremony was attended by Yang Hyong Sop, vice-president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, Kim Jung Rin, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, Mun Jae Dok, chairman of the Physical Culture and Sports Guidance Commission, Pang Chol Gap, chairman of the Pyongyang City People's Committee who is chairman of the organizing committee of the second International Martial Arts Games, Jong Jae Hun, secretary general of the international Martial Arts Games Committee, Hwang Pong Yong, chairman of the Korean Martial Arts Federation who is chairman of the Korean Taekwon-Do Committee, and officials concerned.
Also present there were Jang Ung, chairman of the International Martial Arts Games Committee who is representative of the International Olympic Committee and president of the International Taekwon-Do Federation, Kanji Inoki, director of the Inoki Office of Japan, Leong Wai Meng, vice-chairman of the International Martial Arts Games Committee, Farid Naghdi, representative of the Presidential Office in the Ministry of Physical Education of Iran, Mohammad Ghasem Manouchehri, president of the World Federation of Kick-Boxing, Panagiotis Koutrobas, president of the International Pankration Federation, M. H. Abid, secretary general of the World Oriental Federation, Santiprharp Intaraphartn, vice-president of the World Muaythai Federation, Jong Ji Hae, director general of the Korean Amateur Athletic Federation in Japan, and Jong Yon Wu, director of the Field Operation International Canada, who are honorary guests of the games, and other delegates of different international martial arts federations and national martial arts organizations.
The secretary general of the International Martial Arts Games Committee declared the ceremony open.
Big drums were beaten and horns were blown by those clad in the uniforms of generals in the period of Koguryo.
Yang Hyong Sop handed torches to male and female martial arts practitioners of the DPRK.
They lit the huge flame holder.

Japan under Fire for Barring DPRK Team's Participation in Table Tennis Championships
Pyongyang, August 23 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Table Tennis Association released a statement on Wednesday accusing Japan of barring DPRK players from participating in the 15th East Asia Children's Table Tennis Championships in Osaka, Japan, sponsored by the Japanese Table Tennis Association with an approval of the Table Tennis Federation of Asia. Recalling that DPRK Table Tennis Association received from the organizing committee of the above-said championships a notice asking it to refrain from sending its players to the championships for security reasons resulting from the present situation, the statement said: It is obvious that the organizing committee of the championships sent the notice to our association under the pressure of the Japanese authorities.
The statement went on:
The action taken by Japan to disallow the DPRK players to participate in the championships cannot be construed otherwise than the move of its authorities steeped in the bitterness towards the DPRK to the marrow of their bones.
Their behavior betraying their inability to guarantee the safety of even children from a few countries of East Asia participating in such small games clearly proves that Japan styling itself a "law-governed country" is a land plagued with hooliganism and disorder.
This casts doubt as to whether Japan will guarantee the safety of those who will participate in the World Table Tennis Championships to be held in Japan in 2009 and that of the participants in the international sports games to be held there in the future.
The Japanese authorities can never flee from the responsibility for having barred the DPRK team from participating in the East Asia Children's Table Tennis Championships through a politically motivated interference in the noble sports games.
The Japanese Table Tennis Association and the organizing committee of the championships, too, should own responsibility for having acted quite contrary to the Olympic Charter and sports idea after being reduced to a political plaything of the Japanese authorities.
The DPRK Table Tennis Association bitterly denounces the Japanese reactionary authorities and ultra-right gangsters for having orchestrated the case and urges the International Table Tennis Federation and the Table Tennis Federation of Asia to pay a serious attention to the case and take a necessary measure.

August 22 2006

KPA Panmunjom Mission Terms "Ulji Focus Lens" War Action
Panmunjom, August 22 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Panmunjom Mission of the Korean People's Army issued a statement Tuesday condemning the "Ulji Focus Lens" joint military exercises that started in south Korea on Monday at a time when the U.S. has become ever more undisguised in its hostile policy towards the DPRK and its moves to isolate and stifle the latter and the stand-off between the DPRK and the U.S. has reached an extreme phase. The statement said:
The KPA side can not but draw serious attention to the fact that these joint military exercises are timed to coincide with the largest-ever naval and air combined maneuvers staged in the waters off the Korean Peninsula and those exercises are staged after keeping a carrier strike flotilla on alert in waters near it.
We are taking a serious note of the fact that the above-said war maneuvers were launched at a time when the DPRK and the U.S. are still in the relations of hostility and belligerence and after the former declared a war against the latter in a recent resolution of the UN Security Council adopted by wirepulling its followers.
As clear to everyone, "Ulji Focus Lens" now underway in a terror-ridden atmosphere is obviously an undisguised military threat and blackmail against the DPRK and a war action going beyond the phraseology of violation of the Armistice Agreement (AA). No one can vouch that it would not go over to an actual war.
The KPA has already clarified more than once that a preemptive military action against other side is not a monopoly of the U.S. and the KPA side, therefore, reserves the right to undertake a preemptive action for self-defence against the enemy at a crucial time it deems necessary to defend itself, now that the two countries still remain in the above-mentioned relationship due to the U.S. hostile policy towards the DPRK.
The mission is authorized to state that the KPA side would not be bound to the AA in taking on its own initiative military measures for protecting the security and sovereignty of the country in the future, considering the ongoing war maneuvers as a war action declaring the AA null and void.

Cuban Embassy Officials Visit Exhibition of Works on Juche Idea
Pyongyang, August 22 (KCNA) -- Cuban Ambassador to the DPRK Ruben Perez Valdes and embassy officials visited the Exhibition of Works on the Juche Idea on August 21 on the occasion of the month of solidarity with the Cuban people. The guests looked round with keen interest the works and data on display, being briefed on the facts that President Kim Il Sung founded the Juche idea, Kim Jong Il deepened and developed the idea with his ideological and theoretical activities and they, peerlessly great men, wrote a great number of works to make immortal contributions to the accomplishment of the human cause of independence.
They also visited King Tangun's Mausoleum. They went round stone sculptures and the chambers of the mausoleum, being briefed on the precious cultural treasure which proves the long history and homogeneity of the Korean nation.

Koreans in U.S. Commemorate August 15
Pyongyang, August 22 (KCNA) -- The Headquarters of Koreans in the U.S. of the National Alliance for the Country's Reunification, the Federation of Koreans in Western Region of the U.S., the Rasong Forum for Reunification and other national democratic movement organizations in Los Angeles held a seminar to commemorate August 15, the day of Korea's liberation, on August 15, according to Internet homepage Minjok Thongsin in the U.S. At the seminar speakers said that the Japanese chief executive openly visited the "Yasukuni Shrine," while Japan is now talking about a "preemptive attack" on the north, which is a clear proof that Japan will never repent of the history of crimes it committed against the Korean nation in the past.
They charged that Japan has become undisguised in the expansion of military capability and schemed to scrap the "pacifist constitution" to revive militarism.
Denouncing the U.S. for pursuing its imperialist domination policy in south Korea, occupying it for more than 60 years, they stressed that reunification is the cause of national liberation to drive the foreign forces out of south Korea.

Stop to S. Korea-U.S. Military Exercises Called for in S. Korea
Pyongyang, August 22 (KCNA) -- 71 civic and social organizations of south Korea including the South Headquarters of the National Alliance for the Country's Reunification, the People for Achieving Peace and Reunification and the Anti-U.S. Women's Society reportedly called a press conference in the vicinity of the U.S. embassy in Seoul on August 18 to demand a stop to the south Korea-U.S. joint military exercises. A press release demanding a stop to the "Ulji Focus Lens" joint military exercises which call for a war was read out at the press conference. The release said that the joint military exercises to be staged from Monday are aimed at training the control of the crisis of south Korea-U.S. combined forces in case of emergency in the Korean Peninsula, reorganization of all work on a war footing and procedure of cooperation of the south Korea-U.S. combined forces and estimating and rounding off the deploying capacity of U.S. reinforcements.
It can not but be an undisguised military pressure upon the north that the joint military exercises are being launched in the Korean Peninsula at the time when conflict between the north and the U.S. is being aggravated and the U.S. economic blockade against the north is surfacing, the release noted, stressing if the U.S. and the south Korean "government" truly want peace on the Korean Peninsula, they should stop the aggressive military drills.

Conservative Gangsters' Violence Denounced in S. Korea
Pyongyang, August 22 (KCNA) -- The Reunification Solidarity, the People's Solidarity and the All-People Measure Committee for Checking the Expansion of the U.S. Military Base in Phyongthaek of south Korea reportedly made public a statement on August 17 condemning gangsters of conservative organizations for assaulting members of civic organizations. Gangsters under the "Pan-Conservative Alliance" perpetrated such group violence as kicking and beating members of the June 15 Youth Society in Taejon who were on their way home after taking part in an August 15 all-people rally for independence and peace in the plaza of the Seoul City Office on August 15.
The attitude of conservative organizations goes to prove that they are nothing different from the erstwhile dictatorial "regimes" in their true colors, the statement noted, adding the conservative forces are inciting confrontation among Koreans, still not away from the way of thinking dating back to the era of the Cold War, and barring the progressive forces from expressing their political will by use of force.
No matter how wild the conservative forces may run, they can never block the advance of people toward independence, peace and reunification and the political castaways of the times are bound to meet judgment of history, statement stressed.

Minju Joson on Korea's Unshakable Will to Force Japan to Settle Its Past
Pyongyang, August 22 (KCNA) -- Japan is a brigandish, shameless and sworn enemy of the Korean nation. The Koreans will surely force Japan to pay for the blood shed by them generation after generation. Minju Joson today says this in a signed commentary carried 96 years after the "Korea-Japan annexation treaty" was cooked up by the Japanese imperialists at the point of bayonet and by fraudulent means.
The reactionaries of Japan are now working hard to evade its responsibility for apology and compensation and gratify their wild ambition for reinvasion of Korea, the commentary notes, and goes on:
They have become more frantic than ever before in pursuing their hostile policy towards the DPRK since they made it a focus of their Asia policy. Reckless calls for "preemptive attack" on the DPRK are heard from among the Japanese reactionaries and they have become more undisguised in their moves to grab Tok Islet, part of the inalienable territory of Korea.
The history and present reality clearly prove that Japan is the principal enemy of the Korean nation.
The army and people of the DPRK will employ every possible means and method to force Japan to pay for the blood shed by the Koreans without fail.

Rodong Sinmun on Tradition of Juche Literature and Art
Pyongyang, August 22 (KCNA) -- It is the important task which should be firmly grasped in the building of Juche-based literature and art to defend and successfully carry forward the tradition of revolutionary literature and art of the Workers' Party of Korea established in the flames of the anti-Japanese war, declares Rodong Sinmun in a signed article Tuesday. It goes on:
The immortal famous masterpieces created by President Kim Il Sung during the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle are the cream of the revolutionary literature and art of Korea and the eternal lifeline which constantly pushes forward Juche-based literature and art through generations.
The revolutionary drama "Sea of Blood" performed in Manjiang in August Juche 25 (1936) 70 years ago is shedding light in history as one of the typical works among the immortal famous masterpieces created by the President in the days of the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle.
The revolutionary literature and art created by the President in the days of the anti-Japanese war was the first in the history of human literature and art to put up the popular masses as the driving force of history and describe their position and role in social development and shaping of human destiny on a high plane. They thus propounded the truth that the popular masses are the master of their own destiny and that their independent idea and consciousness and creative activities are the very force pushing history forward.
The anti-Japanese revolutionary literature and art based on the great idea and creative methods reflecting the demand of the times and the desire of the popular masses are precious assets and tradition of Korean nation's literature and art.
With Kim Jong Il soaring as the lodestar leading the era of independence, the revolutionary literature and art of Korea began developing on a new higher stage with the anti-Japanese revolutionary literature and art created by the President as its brilliant tradition and a great flower garden of Juche-based literature and art spread in this land.
Under the energetic guidance of Kim Jong Il, revolutionary novels and films based on the famous masterpieces have made their appearance and "Sea of Blood"-style revolutionary operas and "Mountain Shrine"-style dramas come into being. This is a successful inheritance of the tradition of anti-Japanese revolutionary literature and art and a precious fruition of the Juche-based literary and art revolution.
Bright is the future of Juche-based literature and art of Korea as it is guided by Kim Jong Il who is carrying forward to accomplishment the revolutionary cause of Juche and it has the shining tradition of revolutionary literature and art.

Minju Joson on Danger of War in Korea
Pyongyang, August 22 (KCNA) -- The joint military exercises "Ulji Focus Lens", a product of the U.S. ambition for invasion of the DPRK, indicate that the U.S. moves to stifle the DPRK are going over to the phase of using force from the phase of economic blockade, says Minju Joson today in a signed commentary. The exercises may go over to an all-out nuclear war against the DPRK any moment as they are now under way according to the "OPLAN 5027", the key point of which is to mount a preemptive attack on the DPRK with nukes, the commentary warns, and says:
The U.S. intention is to weaken the DPRK through economic blockade and swallow it up by force. What is serious is that the south Korean authorities are zealously joining the U.S. in its moves to provoke a war against the DPRK. This tells that they are going against the June 15 joint declaration.
Recently, inter-Korean ministerial talks were deadlocked and projects for humanitarian aid suspended due to the south Korean authorities' servile attitude toward the U.S. to deteriorate the north-south relations.
It is a wild daydream for the U.S. to seize the DPRK by force. The army and people of the DPRK are keeping sharp eyes on the U.S. war moves and will never allow the aggressors to intrude into the sky, land and waters of the DPRK even an inch. The U.S. should stop the adventurous war exercises against the DPRK at once and the south Korean authorities should stop depending on outsiders and take the road of national independence, though belatedly.

Hit Films Created
Pyongyang, August 22 (KCNA) --The newly produced feature films "Diary of a Girl Student" and "Pyongyang Nalpharam" are now on screen in the DPRK, evoking a big response in the audience. The feature film "Diary of a Girl Student" convincingly shows on a high degree of ideological content and artistic value that the greatest property to be handed over to their children by parents is not honor or any expensive treasure but the pure-hearted conscience and the obligation to support the Party and the leader.
Though based on the life of an ordinary family, the film is a hit and has opened up a new path in all aspects of the film art such as scenario, direction, shot, action, edition of scenes and film music.
The feature film "Pyongyang Nalpharam" portrays the Pyongyang martial arts men who defended Muyedobothongji (illustrated book on martial arts) from the tentacles of the Japanese aggressors at the cost of their lives. It impressively says that the time-honored history, wisdom and dignity of a nation can be glorified only when it has a genuine fatherland.
The film full of the soul and stamina of the Korean nation leaves deep impression on the audience for its unpredictably developing plot, exciting scenes and unique dramatic framework.
Kim Jong Il wisely led the production of the feature films so as to mark a turning point in developing the Juche-based film art in the new era.

Blueberry, Special Product of Mt. Paektu
Pyongyang, August 22 (KCNA) -- Blueberry is a special product of Mt. Paektu in the DPRK. The blueberry gathering is at full swing in Samjiyon, Taehongdan and Paekam Counties and other areas of Ryanggang Province.
Blueberry trees grow in mountainous areas 800-2,540 meters above the sea level.
The tree puts forth buds late in May and opens its flower between late in June and late in July. And its fruit gets ripe in the first half of August.
As blueberry contains such ingredients as sugar,protein, fatty substance, carbohydrate, tannin, organic acid (mainly citric acid), mineral matter, vitamins, anthocyan pigment, it is very good for health.
It is efficacious for lowering cholesterol content in blood vessel, liver and kidney and preventing and curing heart and blood diseases.
For its sterilizing power, it is also potent for the treatment of diseases of the internal organs, sedation of the central nerve and removal of poisoning by heavy metals and various kinds of drugs.
The Paektusan Blueberry Processing Factory in Ryanggang Province produces various kinds of spirits and foodstuffs with blueberry as raw material.
Paektusan Blueberry Wine is one of the famous ten spirits of the DPRK and popular at home and abroad.
Meanwhile, the government has taken measures to deepen the research into blueberry and cultivate it in an artificial way in recent years.

Congratulations to PM of Equatorial Guinea
Pyongyang, August 22 (KCNA) -- Pak Pong Ju, premier of the DPRK Cabinet, sent a message of congratulations to Ricardo Mangue Obama Nfube upon his appointment as prime minister of Equatorial Guinea. The message wished him success in his job, expressing the belief that the bilateral ties of friendship and cooperation would continue to grow stronger in the future, too.

August 21 2006

Rim Tong Ok Passes Away
Pyongyang, August 21 (KCNA) -- Rim Tong Ok, deputy to the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly and director of a department of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, died of an incurable disease at the age of 70 at 7 a.m. on Aug. 20, Juche 95 (2006). The Central Committee of the WPK and the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly said in his obituary published on Sunday that Rim was a faithful revolutionary soldier who fought with all devotion for national reunification and the victory of the revolutionary cause of Juche, upholding the leadership of the Party and the leader.
Firmly armed with the Juche idea and Songun idea of the Party, he remained boundlessly loyal to the Party and dedicated his all to the accomplishment of the cause of national reunification till the last moments of his life, the obituary noted.
It said although he passed away, his merits for the Party and the revolution, the country and the nation would remain long.
Rim Tong Ok worked as a member of the leading organ of the Central Committee of the Party and a deputy to the Supreme People's Assembly for many years and was also active as vice-chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland.


Koreans Will Surely Force Japan to Pay for Its Past Crimes
Pyongyang, August 21 (KCNA) -- The DPRK will never allow the sworn enemy Japan to keep the crimes committed by it against Koreans in the past buried into oblivion no matter how much water may flow under the bridge but employ every means and method to force it to pay for the blood shed by them without fail. A spokesman for the Association of Korean Victims of Forcible Drafting and Their Bereaved Families declared this in a statement released on Monday 96 years since the Japanese imperialists cooked up the criminal "Korea-Japan Annexation Treaty" by a coercive and fraudulent method on Aug. 22, 1910.
Bitterly denouncing the monstrous crimes committed by Japan against humanity, the statement said: The Korean nation had undergone the sorrow of being a stateless nation for more than 40 years since Korea was deprived of its national sovereignty. However, Japan is justifying its past crimes and trying to go without making any apology or compensation for them even in this new century.
The statement went on:
It was by the force of the "treaty" that Korea was far removed from modern civilization, the Korean people were subject to the miserable fate of a ruined nation, the precious national treasures and cultural heritages that had been handed down from their ancestors were plundered as collections for luxury and pleasure of the Japanese robbers and rich natural resources shipped to Japan for the production of war supplies for its war of aggression.
What is more intolerable is that the Japanese reactionaries and right-wing politicians do not bother to let loose such reckless outcries as claiming that the annexation of Korea was "legitimate" under the situation that prevailed at that time, Japan's colonial rule over Korea "contributed" to Korea's modernization and the Koreans "benefited" from it.
Japan, far from making a sincere apology and compensation for the crimes perpetrated by it against the Korean people in the past, has evaded its responsibility for liquidating its past though the last century was replaced by a new one and persistently pursued its hostile policy towards the DPRK, availing itself of the U.S. moves to stifle the DPRK. In recent years Japan, pretending to be a victim, adopted the "North Korean Sanctions Law" and applied "sanctions" against the DPRK like a thief crying "Stop the thief!"
Japan should redress its past crimes at an early date, paying heed to the towering grudge and resentment of the Korean victims and their bereaved families.


S. Korean Trade Unions Go on Strikes
Pyongyang, August 21 (KCNA) -- The struggle of south Korean workers for defending their vital rights is gaining momentum, according to south Korean MBC and KBS. More than 5,000 workers under the Ssangyong Motor Trade Union went on an indefinite general strike on August 16.
The union warned that it would continue the strike until the company side withdraws the restructuring plan which drives the workers to death.
Meanwhile, Hyun Dai Iron Trade Union entered into a general strike on the same day.


Anti-U.S., Anti-War Struggle Urged in S. Korea
Pyongyang, August 21 (KCNA) -- The Solidarity for Implementing the South-North Joint Declaration reportedly held street oratorical meetings against the U.S. and war and for the withdrawal of the U.S. troops in all districts of Seoul from July 11 to August 12. It formed an oratorical group mainly with its representatives and advisors and had 27 street oratorical meetings. In this course, it conducted anti-U.S. agitation activities in various forms and ways such as 10 million-signature campaign, anti-U.S. rally and art performance for the withdrawal of the U.S. forces, in solidarity with local civic and public organizations.
The speakers called upon all the people to turn out in the struggle to implement the four slogans: shattering the U.S. war moves, rejecting the signing of south Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, opposing the aggressive south Korea-U.S. military alliance and forcing the U.S. troops to withdraw from south Korea.
Noting in unison that the heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula is attributable to the U.S. hostile policy towards the north, they said the Korean nation should unite and all its members should turn out in the struggle against the U.S. and war and for the withdrawal of the U.S. forces, if a holocaust of war is to be averted.
They explained the problems presented by the south Korea-U.S. FTA and the danger posed by the expansion of the U.S. military base in Phyongthaek and the "strategic flexibility" of the U.S troops present in south Korea.


Nuclear Armament of U.S. Troops in S. Korea under Fire
Pyongyang, August 21 (KCNA) -- It was recently disclosed that 2.74 million depleted uranium shells have been stockpiled in the U.S. military bases in Suwon, Chongju, Osan and other places of south Korea. Rodong Sinmun Monday says in a signed commentary that the U.S. imperialists have stockpiled nuclear weapons and depleted uranium shells in south Korea in a bid to implement their criminal strategy towards the DPRK by imposing nuclear holocaust upon the Korean nation.
The commentary goes on:
The U.S. is the most dangerous criminal state that has introduced weapons of mass destruction such as nukes and depleted uranium shells into other country to impose nuclear disaster upon the Korean nation.
The U.S. imperialist aggressor troops in south Korea and their military bases where a lot of nuclear war means have been deployed are the root cause of a nuclear war gravely threatening peace on the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, their existence can never be permitted as it is very important issue related to the security of the Korean nation.
The south Korean people should never permit the aggressor troops and nuclear weapons threatening them and the entire Korean nation and the Korean Peninsula.


Flow to Independence Cannot Be Turned Back: Rodong Sinmun
Pyongyang, August 21 (KCNA) -- No moves of the imperialists can put down the independent purpose and desire of the progressives or turn back the main stream of the present era toward independence, declares Rodong Sinmun on Monday. The author of the article says:
The struggle of the progressives for independence is sure to win as it represents the desire and demand of the popular masses and corresponds to the flow of history.
It is important for all the countries to legitimately exercise their independent rights in frustrating the strong-arm and arbitrary practices of the imperialists and accomplishing the human cause of independence.
Defending Juche and national character is the main requirement for pursuing an independent foreign policy. It is the highest manifestation of independence to defend and strengthen this character.
Respecting the sovereignty of all countries is a major demand for realizing independence of the popular masses. There are countries big and small, developed and less developed, but all the countries are equal in the international relations and they have independent rights. No country has the right to impose its idea, system and way of life upon other countries. Especially the acts of forcing one's will upon others by a strong arm and encroaching upon others' sovereignty must never be tolerated.
It is impossible for all countries and nations to enjoy independent rights as full-fledged members of the international community, unless the principles of impartiality and equality are respected in the international relations.
The struggle for independence is, in essence, an anti-imperialist struggle. A resolute fight should be put up against imperialism without the slightest illusion about it. Herein lies the correct way of carrying the human desire for independence into reality.
To achieve the unity of the progressive people aspiring after independence is an important matter arising from the intrinsic demand of the present international situation and struggle for independence.
It is truth borne out by the practical experiences of the Korean revolution that the way of achieving the prosperity of the country and the nation lies in sticking hard to the principle of independence. The Songun politics of the Workers' Party of Korea is the supreme manifestation of independent politics.

Kim Jong Il Sends Wreath to Bier of Late Rim Tong Ok
Pyongyang, August 21 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Kim Jong Il sent a wreath to the bier of the late Rim Tong Ok, deputy to the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly and department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, on Monday, expressing deep condolences over his death.

Ryanggang Provincial Art Theatre Built
Pyongyang, August 21 (KCNA) -- The Ryanggang Provincial Art Theatre has been constructed to be a monumental edifice in the Songun era in the DPRK. The interior and exterior of the theatre, located in Hyesan City, Ryanggang Province, has been decorated in a unique way to suit the specific feature of the northern highlands of the country and the requirement of the new century.
The facade is flanked with murals depicting the native home of Kim Jong Il in the Secret Camp on Mt. Paektu and the native home of anti-Japanese war hero Kim Jong Suk in Hoeryong. And the interior and exterior walls of the theatre are clad with natural granites and marbles in grandeur and splendour. It, with a plottage of more than 33,000 square meters and a total floor space of some 20,000 square meters, has a horizontally moving and revolving stage and over 240 rooms including general practicing room, creation room and dance practicing room.
It is well furnished with state setting and lighting, equipment of automatically controlling temperature and humidity and with cultural and welfare service facilities.
After the inauguration performance, Jon Ok Song, director of the Ryanggang Provincial Art Troupe, said in an interview with KCNA that the troupe was happy to give a performance in the well-built theatre and would make a positive contribution to efflorescing the revolutionary soldier culture of the Songun era by putting a lot of song and dance pieces loved by people on stage.

Muyedobothongji, Old Book
Pyongyang, August 21 (KCNA) --Muyedobothongji is an old illustrated book on martial arts which synthesizes the traditional martial arts movements of Korea in a systematic way. The book was published at the instruction of Jongjo (1777 - 1800), the 22nd King of the Ri Dynasty. Its preface was written by the King.
In 1790, the 14th year following his enthronement, Muyedobothongji was printed in Chinese characters along with the first volume of Muyedobothongjionhae annotating the book in Korean.
Given in Muyedobothongji are picture-illustrated martial arts movements including handling of various swords and knives, boxing method, spear-handling and cudgel-handling.
The book reflects the traditional sword-handing methods. It introduces how to handle Korean-made swords, how to fight with two swords in both hands and how to use the sword with a long haft.
The part of boxing method of the book gives picture-illustrated basic movements of 25 boxing methods and 48 movements derived from them and then connects each separate movement into one.
Figuring there are the traditional Thaekgyon (foot-kicking) methods of Korea.
The illustrations were drawn by famous artist Kim Hong Do (1760 - ?) and explanation and edition were made by realist scholar Pak Je Ga (1750 - 1805) and Ri Tok Mu (1741 - 1793).
Paek Tong Su, warrior of the government training center which was founded after the Imjin Patriotic War (1592 - 1598) against the Japanese invaders, gave technical guidance to the book compilation.
The Japanese imperialists who had looked with covetous eyes upon the Korean cultural heritage prohibited the Korean people from playing all the martial arts games including a stone-throwing fight in 1908. And they, by dint of armed forces, broke into the national historical book storehouses in different parts of Korea to plunder priceless documents of the nation including the True Records of the Ri Dynasty and the Muyedobothongji.
The book Muyedobothongji, however, was defended by people in northwestern area of Korea centering around Pyongyang and it is now kept with good care in the Grand People's Study House.
The feature film "Pyongyang Nalpharam" now on screen in various places of the DPRK reveals the predatory nature of the Japanese invaders who fabricated the treaty on "Korea-Japan Annexation" at the point of bayonet in 1910 and wove every base plot to pillage the book and shows patriotic Pyongyang men of martial arts who defended the book at the cost of their lives.

Director of Japanese Inoki Office Arrives
Pyongyang, August 21 (KCNA) -- Kanji Inoki, director of the Inoki Office, and his party arrived here Monday to participate in the Second International Martial Arts Games. They were greeted at the airport by Jong Jae Hun, general secretary of the International Martial Arts Games Committee, and officials concerned.

August 19-20 2006

 


Global Action for Putting End to U.S. Interference in Internal Affairs of Other Countries Called for
Pyongyang, August 20 (KCNA) -- The United States is disclosing its ugly colors as the chieftain of aggression and interference in the internal affairs of other countries. Rodong Sinmun today observes in a signed article in this regard:
The U.S. regards its interference in the internal affairs of other countries as an important lever for establishing its order for the world domination. It forces other countries to accept freedom and democracy of American style and puts political and economic pressure upon those countries failing to comply with its demand or unhesitatingly resorts to even military aggression against them.
The U.S. leaves no means untried. It drives a wedge among various nations, tribes and religious sects to set them against one another and spark political, ethnic and religious disputes. Then it meddles in them under the pretexts of "mediation" and "settlement" to fish in troubled waters.
The U.S. releases a "report on human rights" each year to pull up other countries over their human rights issues and openly interferes in elections taking place in different countries.
Its interference in the internal affairs of other countries is seriously infringing upon their sovereignty, obstructing the healthy development of nations, gravely violating the principles of justice and impartiality in resolving international issues and posing a big threat to the peace and security of the world.
The reality proves that to shatter the U.S. interference in the internal affairs of other countries presents itself as a very important and urgent task of the times for ensuring the independent development of countries and world peace and security. Failure to stand firm against the above-said U.S. interference would make it more arrogant and high-handed.
The world progressive countries and peoples should not tolerate the U.S. arrogant and brigandish meddling in the internal affairs of other countries but resolutely struggle against it. This interference can never work on those countries which set store by their sovereignty. The U.S. moves to meddle in the internal affairs of other countries are bound to fail if all countries take their sovereignty as their life and soul and resolutely struggle to defend it.
All the countries advocating independence should see through the reactionary nature and danger of the above-mentioned U.S. interference and remain vigilant against it.

61st anniversary of Liberation of Korea Marked Abroad
Pyongyang, August 20 (KCNA) -- A lecture was given in Tanzania and film shows were held in Indonesia during the period from August 12 to 15 on the occasion of the 61st anniversary of the liberation of Korea. The participants of the film shows watched Korean films including "The Country Taking on More Beautiful Looks under the Leadership of the Great General" and "55th Anniversary of Foundation of the DPRK."
The chief of the Group for the Study of the Juche Idea of the Dar-Es-Salaam Friendship Textile Mill in the lecture given under the title "Kim Il Sung, Benefactor of Liberation of Korea" said that President Kim Il Sung embarked upon the road of revolution in his teens and led the arduous anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle to liberate the country and save the destiny of the Korean nation.
The President who brought about a great historic national event always lives in the hearts of the Korean nation as a benefactor of national resurrection and the sun of the Korean nation, he stressed.
The general director of the Badja Machine Co. and the deputy director of the Rabitra Bahtera Pratama Co. of Indonesia said that the show of Korean films provided them with an opportunity to know well about the path of victory covered by the DPRK and the Korean people under the leadership of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and wished the Korean people bigger progress in the efforts to build a great prosperous powerful socialist nation and accomplish the cause of national reunification in the future.

Japanese Chief Executive's Visit to "Yasukuni Shrine" Denounced in S. Korea
Pyongyang, August 20 (KCNA) -- The south Korean political camp denounced the Japanese chief executive's visit to the "Yasukuni Shrine" as a reckless act and an obvious diplomatic provocation aimed at the revival of militarism on August 15, according to south Korean MBC and KBS. That day the "Uri Party" demanded the Japanese government make an immediate apology for the Japanese chief executive's latest visit to the "Yasukuni Shrine", the "Democratic Party" urged the "government" to react to this from the toughest diplomatic stand and the Democratic Workers' Party called for uniting with the international peace forces to frustrate Japan's scheme to revive militarism.
Meanwhile, the south Korean "Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade" in a statement of its spokesman held that the visit to the "shrine" was "something damaging not only the south Korea-Japan relations but the cooperative relations in Northeast Asia".
On the same day, the "ministry" summoned the Japanese ambassador to Seoul to convey its will that it "expresses great disappointment and anger at the visit paid by the Japanese prime minister to the 'Yasukuni Shrine' despite the repeated requests made by the government to settle the problem".

U.S. War Moves under Fire in S. Korea
Pyongyang, August 20 (KCNA) -- 22 civic and public organizations of south Korea including the South Headquarters of the National Alliance for the Country's Reunification, the South Headquarters of the National Alliance of Youth and Students for the Country's Reunification, the Solidarity for Implementing the South-North Joint Declaration, the south Korean Federation of University Student Councils, the south Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Anti-U.S. Women's Society reportedly called a press conference in front of the U.S. embassy in Seoul on August 16 to denounce the south Korean and U.S. authorities for their war moves. A joint statement of all organizations in the south and the north and overseas assailing the south Korea-U.S. joint military exercises was read out at the press conference.
The "Ulji Focus Lens" joint military exercises are to be staged at a time when the U.S. sanctions against the north are escalating, the statement noted, adding that this means the U.S. economic embargo against the north is going over to the phase of military attack and the south Korean authorities are zealously toeing the U.S. policy of war against the north.
Urging the south Korean authorities to honestly implement the June 15 joint declaration in the idea of "By our nation itself", the statement declared that all the fellow countrymen in the south and the north and overseas would never tolerate the military provocations of the U.S. and its followers standing in the way of achieving independence, peace and reunification but fight against them.
An action plan of civic and public organizations was made public at the press conference.

Rally Held in S. Korea to Condemn Conservative Media
Pyongyang, August 20 (KCNA) -- The Reunification Solidarity, the south Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the South Headquarters of the National Alliance of Youth and Students for the Country's Reunification (Pomchonghakryon), reportedly held a rally in Seoul on August 14 to condemn conservative media. Its participants accused Chosun Ilbo, Chungang Daily and Dong-A Ilbo of staging a frantic political coloring offensive against progressive forces including the "National Teachers Union", the KCTU and the South Headquarters of Pomchonghakryon.
A resolution read out at the rally said that it was the unanimous desire of the Korean nation to put an end to the pain resulting from national division and achieve the independent and peaceful reunification of the country. It blasted the conservative media for their desperate efforts to strain the inter-Korean relations in disregard of the desire of the nation.
The Korean nation can never remain a passive onlooker to the moves of the conservative media persistently blocking the movement for the independence and reunification of the nation as "mouthpieces" of conservative forces after making a switchover from a pro-Japanese stand to pro-U.S. stand, the resolution noted, declaring that the above-said organizations would struggle to have the conservative newspapers closed and build a genuine new society, independent, democratic and reunified, on this land without fail.

Greetings to President of Hungary
Pyongyang, August 20 (KCNA) -- Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, Sunday sent a message of greetings to Laszlo Solyom, president of Hungary, on the occasion of its national day. The message wished the Hungarian people prosperity and well-being, expressing the belief that the friendly and cooperative relations between the DPRK and Hungary would continue to develop on good terms in the future, too.

Functions on Korea's Liberation Held Abroad
Pyongyang, August 19 (KCNA) -- A meeting, lecture, photo exhibition and film show took place in Switzerland, India and Indonesia from August 11 to 14 on the occasion of the 61st anniversary of Korea's liberation. Displayed in the venues of the functions were photos showing the immortal revolutionary exploits performed by President Kim Il Sung and General Secretary Kim Jong Il.
Martin Lostcher, chairman of the Swiss Committee for Supporting the Independent and Peaceful Reunification of Korea, in a speech at the meeting said that Generalissimo Kim Il Sung is a national hero and benefactor of the resurrection of the nation as he brought an independent and creative life to the Korean people.
B. C. Gupta, chairman of the Juche Idea Study Society of Delhi, India in a lecture recalled that Kim Il Sung founded the Juche idea and Songun idea and led the great anti-Japanese war to victory, achieving national liberation, stressing his undying feats are being successfully carried forward by Kim Jong Il.
Karsingh Chandra, director of the Srikandi Karton Company of Indonesia, after seeing a Korean film, said that the DPRK has emerged a political and ideological power thanks to Kim Jong Il, a great thinker and a great master of leadership art.
A message of greetings to Kim Jong Il was adopted at the meeting held in Switzerland.

Japanese Chief Executive's Visit to "Yasukuni Shrine" Denounced in S. Korea
Pyongyang, August 19 (KCNA) -- Members of the South Side Committee for the Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration and the 2006 Reunification Vanguard for Independence and Peace on the Korean Peninsula reportedly held a meeting for commemorating the 61st anniversary of the liberation of Korea in Seoul on August 15 to denounce the Japanese chief executive's visit to the "Yasukuni Shrine." At the meeting speakers called upon the people to harden their will to put an end to the tragedy of the national division and achieve reconciliation and unity of the fellow countrymen.
A special statement condemning Japan read out at the meeting branded the Japanese chief executive's flaunting visit to the shrine on August 15 as a blatant provocation to the Korean nation.
Japan is getting undisguised in its moves for military expansion, pursuant to the U.S. war moves to invade the DPRK, and inclined to abrogate the "pacifist constitution" for the revival of militarism, the statement noted.
The statement strongly demanded Japan stop at once the visit to the shrine and its moves to emerge a military power and revive militarism.

Withdrawal of U.S. Forces from S. Korea Called for
Pyongyang, August 19 (KCNA) -- The Youth and Students Solidarity for the Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration, the South Headquarters of the National Alliance of Youth and Students for the Country's Reunification and the (south) Korean Federation of University Student Councils reportedly called a press conference near the U.S. embassy in Seoul on August 14 to demand the withdrawal of the U.S. forces from south Korea. At the conference speakers declared that they would conduct a vigorous struggle to force the U.S. troops out of south Korea and achieve independence, peace and reunification.
A written protest to be thrust to the U.S. embassy was read out at the conference. It urged the U.S. to roll back its hostile policy toward the north and immediately withdraw its forces from south Korea, clearly understanding the anti-U.S. struggle mounting on the Korean Peninsula.
At the end of the conference the participants conveyed the written protest to the U.S. embassy.

All-People Events Held in S. Korea on Day of Liberation
Pyongyang, August 19 (KCNA) -- August 15 all-people events for independence and reunification were reportedly held in Seoul on that day. An August 15 all-people grand march for independence and reunification was followed by an August 15 all-people rally for independence and reunification near Kwanghwamun to check the conclusion of the south Korea-U.S. FTA, the expansion of the U.S. military base in Phyongthaek and protest the sanctions against the north which invite a war.
A resolution read out at the rally accused the U.S. of working hard to reduce south Korea to a base for provoking a war and pushing the situation on the Korean Peninsula to the brink of war by escalating its hostile policy toward the north. It also assailed the "government" for supporting the U.S. policy of colonial rule over Korea and unhesitatingly driving the people to death.
The resolution called for checking the conclusion of the FTA and foiling the U.S. hostile policy toward the north and war moves through the struggle against the U.S. and war and for peace.

Meeting of British Coordinating Committee of Friends of Korea Held
Pyongyang, August 19 (KCNA) -- A meeting of the British Coordinating Committee of Friends of Korea took place in London on August 11. Present at the meeting were Harpal Brar, chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist) who is chairman of the coordinating committee, and Andy Brooks, general secretary of the Central Committee of the New Communist Party of Britain, Ella Rule, international secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist), Michael Chant, secretary of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist), Keith Bennet, secretary general of the European Society for the Study of the Juche Idea, and Dermot Hudson, chairman of the British Association for the Study of Songun Policy, who are members of the coordinating committee.
The meeting discussed the issue of warmly congratulating the Workers' Party of Korea and the government and people of the DPRK on the 61st anniversary of the liberation of Korea and the 58th anniversary of the DPRK, the issue of strengthening the activities for friendship and solidarity with the Korean people and the issue of conducting information activities for giving correct understanding of the DPRK in various forms and methods.
It also laid stress on the issues of making full preparations for significantly greeting the birthdays of President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il in 2007.

U.S. Closure of Maehyang-ri Firing Range Termed Hypocritical
Pyongyang, August 19 (KCNA) -- The measure taken by the U.S. forces in south Korea to close the firing range in Maehyang-ri clearly proved that it was nothing but hypocrisy and a mockery of the south Koreans who strongly demanded its closure, unable to endure any longer the misfortune imposed upon them. Rodong Sinmun Saturday observes this in a signed commentary carried in connection with the disclosure of the fact that the U.S. forces have conducted bomb-dropping exercises almost every day in the area of their firing range in Maehyang-ri, Hwasong County, Kyonggi Province, since last November, though its closure was formally announced a year ago. It goes on:
The U.S. forces side was compelled to announce the above-said measure in face of the ever-growing protest and denunciation of people from all walks of life including Maehyang-ri inhabitants and fighting organizations.
But the recent disclosure proved their measure hypocritical. The U.S. imperialist aggression troops have ceaselessly conducted bomb-dropping exercises in Maehyang-ri by deceiving south Koreans with the smokescreen of "closure." Worse still, they are pressurizing the south Korean authorities to offer a land for a new firing range as a substitute for the closed one. This clearly shows what extent the U.S. brazen-faced nature as a suzerain country has reached, while despising and insulting south Koreans.
The situation goes to prove once again that nothing but misfortune can be expected from the U.S. which, keen on meeting its own aggressive interests, is utterly indifferent to the security of south Koreans, to say nothing of their will and wishes.

All Koreans Called upon to Struggle for Withdrawal of U.S. Forces from South Korea
Pyongyang, August 19 (KCNA) -- The Koreans should no longer allow the U.S. imperialists to stay in south Korea as they are advancing under the banner of "By our nation itself" in the era of independent reunification, observes Rodong Sinmun Saturday in a signed article carried in connection with the fact that the U.S. has become all the more undisguised in its moves to keep its aggressor forces in south Korea. The article goes on:
The U.S. moves to perpetuate the presence of its aggressor forces in south Korea are aimed at keeping the Korean nation divided into two forever and, furthermore, realizing its ambition to dominate the whole of Korea.
The publication of the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration and the advance of the era of independent reunification reflect the desire of all the fellow countrymen for independence to put an end to the U.S. forces' presence in south Korea and their infringement upon the national sovereignty.
All the Koreans in the north and the south and abroad are valiantly turning out in the struggle to get the U.S. forces withdrawn from south Korea. This clearly shows what is the trend in the era of independent reunification.
The publication of the June 15 joint declaration turned the inter-Korean relations into those of reconciliation and cooperation from those of confrontation and distrust and threw all the leftovers of the past era of confrontation into a dustbin of history. The U.S. forces' presence in south Korea, a typical leftover of the era of the Cold War and confrontation, should be eradicated, first of all, as they are a cancer-like entity standing in the way of the inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation.
There is no justification for the U.S. forces to remain in south Korea any longer as they are inciting distrust and confrontation between the north and the south and obstructing the reunification of the country in the June 15 era of reunification when national cooperation and unity are growing strong between the north and the south and all the Koreans are aspiring after the peace and reunification of the Korean Peninsula.
Inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation can never make any progress unless the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces are withdrawn from south Korea. This is a lesson taught by the present era of independent reunification.
The U.S. forces present in south Korea staged large-scale joint military exercises together with the south Korean war-like forces whenever inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation made new progress, thus poisoning the atmosphere of reconciliation and inciting inter-Korean confrontation.
There is neither justification nor pretext whatsoever for the U.S. to keep its aggressor forces in south Korea any longer now that the south Korean people are waging a dynamic struggle for the pullback of the U.S. forces from south Korea.
The U.S. would be well advised to clearly understand the need of the era and face up to the trend of the times, withdraw its forces from south Korea at an early date and refrain from doing anything obstructive to Korea's reunification.

Kim Il Sung's Exploits in Building Air Force
Pyongyang, August 19 (KCNA) --The Air Force Day which falls on August 20 is significantly observed in the DPRK. The Korean people take this opportunity to look back with deep emotion on the exploits performed by President Kim Il Sung in founding and developing a powerful air force.
The President, who had conceived a plan for creating an air force to defend the skies of the new Korea, set up the Aviation Association branches in Pyongyang, Sinuiju and other parts of the country right after the liberation of the country. In December Juche 34 (1945), he merged them into the Aviation Association of Korea.
Having been elected the chairman of the association, he energetically led the work for founding the air force.
He visited the Pyongyang Institute in mid March 1946, where he said that in order to build a completely independent and sovereign state, it was imperative to have an air force capable of defending the territorial air of the country with honor as well as the ground and naval forces. And he added that an aviation class for training aviators and technical service personnel should be set up at the institute.
He specified the tasks and ways for the management of the aviation class ranging from the political and ideological education, general military education and aeronautical education for the aviation class students to ensuring conditions for practicing aviation. Under the President's wise leadership and meticulous care, the aviation class of the Pyongyang Institute, the mother body of the air force, produced many competent aviators in a short span of time.
Basing himself on this, he organized a regular air force on August 20, 1947, the first of its kind in the Korean history.
Young as it was, the Air Force of the Korean People's Army humbled the U.S. imperialists who boasted of being air superiority during the Fatherland Liberation War (1950-1953).
Now the ideological and moral traits of the air force of the KPA are good and the standard of its military technique is incomparably high.

Wreaths Laid before Grave of Kim Po Hyon
Pyongyang, August 19 (KCNA) -- Wreaths were laid before the grave of Kim Po Hyon, ardent patriot, in Mangyongdae this morning on the occasion of his 135th birth anniversary. Seen before his grave was a wreath sent by General Secretary Kim Jong Il.
Present at the wreath-laying ceremony were Yang Hyong Sop, Kim Ki Nam and Kwak Pom Gi, vice-premier of the DPRK Cabinet, officials of the party and power organs, ministries and national institutions and working people in Pyongyang.
Placed before the grave were wreaths in the name of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly and the DPRK Cabinet, ministries, national institutions, educational and media organizations, and party and power bodies and farms in Pyongyang.
The participants observed a moment's silence in memory of his noble life.

Message of Sympathy to Ethiopian President
Pyongyang, August 19 (KCNA) -- Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, Saturday sent a message of sympathy to Ethiopian President Girma Woldegiorgis as regards the recent flood that hit different areas of Ethiopia, claiming big human and material losses. Kim in the message expressed deep sympathy and consolation to the president and, through him, to the dead and their bereaved families and all the sufferers, hoping that the government and the people of Ethiopia would eradicate the aftermath of the disaster and bring the living of the people in the afflicted areas to normal as early as possible.