YONHAP NEWS

NORTH KOREA THIS WEEK NO. 465 (September 6, 2007)

*** NEWS IN BRIEF (Part 1)

North Korea calls for solidarity in non-aligned movement
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea, which has tried to escape from its isolation through ties with developing countries since the collapse of the communist bloc in the early 1990s, called this week for unity and solidarity in the non-aligned movement (NAM).

   The call came in an editorial of the Rodong Sinmun, organ of the North's ruling Workers' Party, on Sept. 1 to commemorate the anniversary of the NAM's foundation.

   "It is an important way of consolidating unity and solidarity and solving difficult and complicated problems arising in building new societies for the non-aligned countries to closely cooperate with one another in the economic and technological fields," the newspaper said.

   The NAM was launched in Belgrade, capital of what was then Yugoslavia, in September 1961 by 26 countries including ones from Africa and Latin America. North Korea became a regular member of the NAM, which was not formally aligned with the Soviet Union or the United States, in August 1975.

   "The emergence of the NAM, a great anti-imperialist revolutionary force in the era of independence, and its development have brought about a great change in the balance of forces between progress and reaction in the international arena and gave a powerful impetus to the process of global independence," said the article, which was carried by the (North) Korean Central News Agency, monitored in Seoul.

   The NAM is faced with the major tasks of maintaining its ideas and fully carrying out its mission to cope with unpredictable grave obstacles and challenges, it added.

   "The NAM must continue holding aloft the banner of independence against imperialism and peace against war," the organ said, calling it the key to progress by the movement.


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North Korea praises accomplishments in 'socialist education'
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea praised what it called its socialist education on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the education charter published by the country's late leader Kim Il-sung, saying the number of intellectuals has remarkably increased for the past three decades.

   "Thirty years have passed after 'Theses on Socialist Education,' the Juche (self-reliance)-based great programme for training talents, was published in the DPRK (North Korea)," the (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) claimed on Sept. 4. "In this period the theses fully displayed its validity and great vitality."
The theses were published on Sept. 5, 1977 by Kim Il-sung.

   More than 2.1 million intellectuals have been trained and the number of those holding academic degrees or titles has grown 25 times, the news outlet said.
An average of more than 1,000 intellectuals holding degrees and the titles of academic, candidate academic, professor, doctor, associate professor and master have emerged every year since the 1970s.

   A universal 11-year compulsory education system has been further consolidated, providing more favorable conditions and circumstances to train the people to be persons with secondary general knowledge, more than one technical skill and strong physical strength, it added.

   Courses of up-to-date science and technology were established at various universities and colleges, such as the College of Information Science and Technology and the College of Machine Science and Technology at Kimchaek University of Technology, according to the report.


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North Korea marks anniversary of publication of Kim Il-sung's education thesis
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea marked the 30th anniversary of the publication of late founder Kim Il-sung's thesis on education, stressing the importance of education in the fields of science and technology, as required in the age of information technology.

   The (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Sept. 4 said that a national meeting took place at the People's Palace of Culture in Pyongyang to mark the anniversary of Kim's famous work "Thesis on Socialist Education" published on Sept. 5, 1977.

   Reflecting the importance of the meeting, those in attendance included high-ranking officials, including Kim Yong-nam, titular head of state, Premier Kim Yong-il and officials of party, armed forces organs and power bodies, ministries and national institutions. Also represented were working people's organizations from the field of education and officials, teachers and researchers at schools of various levels.

   At the meeting, Choe Thae-bok, an alternate member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the Central Committee of the North's ruling Workers' Party, said, "In the thesis, the President scientifically clarified that socialist education is, in essence, an undertaking to train people as independent and creative social beings, and the aim of socialist education is to prepare people as genuine revolutionary intellectuals who have independence and creativity."
He said that endeavors to raise the quality of the North's universal 11-year compulsory education have resulted in improving education in general basic science, foreign languages and basic technology under the leadership of Kim Jong-il, the North's current leader and son of the senior Kim, who also has a zeal for educating the rising generation.

   He alluded to the development of education for talented students, while urging people to uphold the Songun (military-first) revolutionary leadership of Kim Jong-il with great achievements in education and scientific research.


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Kim Jong-il's activities brisk in September
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has engaged in several activities including an on-spot guidance tour in September, according to North Korea's news outlet.

   The (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Sept. 4 said Kim appreciated a performance given by an art group consisting of families of KPA Unit 963 servicemen.

   Earlier on Sept. 1 and 2, the KCNA said Kim Jong-il provided field guidance to different units in Songgan and Jonchon counties, as well as industrial establishments in Mahpho city of Jagang Province, bordering China.

   Kim inspected main industrial facilities in South and North Hamgyong provinces from the end of July to mid-August, which the North's media described as a forced march through the hottest season for the purpose of leaping forward in economic development.

   It is noteworthy that Kim was accompanied by his pointman on South Korea, Kim Yang-gon, at the performance given by the art group, at a time when the second inter-Korean summit was scheduled in Pyongyang in a month.

   Kim Yang-gon, department director of the United Front under the North's ruling Workers' Party, is Kim's close aide who in early August signed an inter-Korean agreement on the visit of the South's President Roh Moo-hyun to Pyongyang for late August. Later the North delayed the proposed visit, citing restoration efforts from the recent flood damage. Roh's three-day visit will begin on Oct. 2.

   Kim Yang-gon was last seen in public when Kim Jong-il visited the Chinese embassy in Pyongyang in March, and rarely accompanies Kim Jong-il's inspections.

  (END)