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NORTH KOREA THIS WEEK NO. 466 (September 13, 2007)
*** NEWS IN BRIEF (Part 2)
Pyongyang says it will respond decisively if U.S., Japan infringe on its interests
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korean Premier Kim Yong-il said on Sept. 8 that North Korea will respond decisively to infringements upon its national interests by the U.S. and Japan.
In an official gathering marking the 59th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean regime, which falls on Sept. 9, the official claimed that the U.S. is covertly moving to exert military pressure while ostensibly engaged in negotiations.
Kim's remarks, carried by the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), included accusations that Washington is trying to cause the communist country to crumble from within and is carrying out various forms of psychological warfare.
In addition, the North Korean official, who was appointed to his post in April, said Tokyo has consistently sided with the U.S. to weaken North Korea.
He said Japan has criticized the North's policies and systems and has clamped down on a pro-Pyongyang organization operating within its borders. Kim alleged that such actions show the degree of aggression that Japanese leaders have against the North.
The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan acts as Pyongyang's chief conduit on the island nation. In June, a Japanese court ordered the seizure of premises belonging to the organization, which had not repaid its debts.
Related to the anniversary of the founding of the North Korean regime, the KCNA said congratulatory messages were sent by leading Chinese officials, including President Hu Jintao.
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N. Korea warns normalization talks could collapse over financial sanctions
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- A senior North Korean diplomat warned on Sept. 10 that talks on normalizing diplomatic relations with Japan would collapse if Tokyo extends financial sanctions on Pyongyang beyond the October deadline.
"If Japanese media reports prove true, the relationship between the two sides would face irrevocable consequences," Song Il-ho, North Korea's chief envoy to the talks, said in an interview in Beijing with the Choson Sinbo, a pro-North Korean newspaper published in Japan.
On Sept. 6, the two sides wrapped up two days of talks, but failed to find common ground due to issues related to compensation for Japan's colonial rule over the Korean peninsula and to Tokyo's demands for more information on North Korea's previous abductions of Japanese citizens.
Song indicated that if Japan's financial sanctions are extended, North Korea will boycott the talks. "It is not us but Japan that should pay attention to the Oct. 13 deadline of financial sanctions."
The paper, the organ of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, usually reflects the views of the communist country.
Japan has refused to establish diplomatic relations with North Korea unless Pyongyang accounts for its abductions of Japanese citizens, while North Korea has demanded reparations from Japan for its harsh 1910-45 colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula.
Their on-again, off-again talks got a major boost in late 2002 when North Korean leader Kim Jong-il admitted to and apologized for his country's abduction of 13 Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s.
Amid growing allegations about the abductions in Japan, Kim said the North's agents kidnapped them to train spies in Japanese language and culture.
Japan called for a new investigation, saying the North failed to account for all of the Japanese it abducted, but the North alleged the claim was politically motivated and said it considered the issue resolved.
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North Korea holds another economic meeting with China
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea, which has maintained brisk economic cooperation and exchanges with China, held another economic meeting with China in Beijing in early September.
"The third meeting of the DPRK (North Korea)-China Committee for Cooperation in Economy, Commerce, Science and Technology took place in Beijing on Sept. 4," the (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said belatedly on Sept. 11.
At the meeting, both sides reviewed the implementation of the agreements reached at the second meeting, and exchanged views on new problems arising in economic and commercial cooperation between the two countries, the news outlet said.
The previous meeting was held in Pyongyang in May last year.
This meeting was attended by Ri Ryong-nam, the North's vice minister of Foreign Trade, and Chen Jian, China's assistant to the minister of Commerce, the KCNA said without adding more details.
Regarding new problems between two countries, analysts in Seoul said that the countries likely discussed China's recently announced development plan for its Northeast region, including constructing a pipeline to transport North Korea's resources to Nanping, Jilin Province in China from Musan City, North Hamgyong Province in North Korea.
The plan also reportedly includes the establishment of a trade area between the two countries in the border region.
Musan and Nanping are already connected by a bridge over the Tumen River, and Chinese companies reportedly plan to import as much as 10 million tons of iron ore every year.
The Musan mine, which holds an estimated 2.2 billion tons of iron ore and is considered the largest in East Asia, is to be developed with a 7 billion yuan (US$861 million) investment from China, the Hong Kong-based newspaper Takungpao reported on Nov. 3, 2005.
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Pyongyang condemns Israeli incursion into Syrian airspace
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea condemned Israel over its intrusion into Syria's airspace last week, saying it fully supports Syrian defense of its national security.
The (North) Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 11 quoted a spokesman for the North's Foreign Ministry as saying it was a very dangerous provocation that violated the sovereignty of Syria and dealt a serious blow to regional peace and security.
The comment came after Israeli warplanes intruded into Syria's airspace early Sept. 6 and dropped bombs in the desert in the country's northeastern area before fleeing. Syria is considering retaliation.
The U.S., a close ally of Israel, said the bombing was a warning to Syria over the latter's support of the militant group Hezbollah, which the U.S. and European Union classify as a terrorist organization.
"The DPRK (North Korea) strongly denounces the above-said intrusion," the spokesman, who is usually not identified, was quoted as saying.
When North Korea's trade minister visited Syria in mid-August, the Syrian government called North Korea its comrade in the struggle against "imperialists," stressing close relations between Pyongyang and Damascus. Both countries, which established diplomatic relations in 1966, have been at odds with the U.S.
(END)
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