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NORTH KOREA THIS WEEK NO. 484 (January 24, 2008)
*** NEWS IN BRIEF (Part 2)
North Korea reports on U.S. primary elections
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea reported on the results of the ongoing primaries of the Republican and Democratic parties in the United States, calling for a change of the U.S.'s "haughty" foreign policy by the next president.
Rodong Sinmun, organ of the ruling Workers' Party of (North) Korea, on Jan. 18 said the people of the world hope the next U.S. president to changes the "insolence" of the country's foreign policy.
The article was carried on the same day by Uriminzokkiri, the North's official Web site, which was monitored in Seoul.
Even though the North reported on the U.S. primaries, it has not reported South Korea's Dec. 19 presidential election won by Lee Myung-bak, candidate of the conservative Grand National Party.
The North's mouthpiece said Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton of the Democratic party are attracting special interest because if one of the two becomes the new president, there will be an African American or woman president for the first time in U.S. history.
"There are sayings in the U.S. about whether a black president is possible in the country which is notorious for its racism, and whether the 'only superpower' in the world could be run by a woman," it said.
The newspaper also described the U.S. election process and claimed the candidate who spends more money during the campaign and gets more popularity will win.
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Russian Embassy in Pyongyang holds friendly meeting
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- The Russian Embassy in Pyongyang held a friendly meeting for high-ranking officials of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party on the occasion of the New Year, the North's news outlet said on Jan. 19.
The (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the Russian Embassy arranged the meeting for officials of the Central Committee of the party on Jan. 18, inviting Secretary Kim Ki-nam and the vice directors of departments, Ji Jae-ryong and Pak Kyong-son.
Noting that 2008 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, Russian Ambassador Valery Sukhinin expressed expectations that the Workers' Party would continue paying deep attention to the work for boosting Russia-DPRK (North Korea) friendly relations, according to the KCNA.
In his speech, Kim Ki-nam stressed his belief that the DPRK-Russia relations, including the ties between the party and the ruling United Russia Party, will grow stronger.
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N.K. denounces U.S. for 'reckless' deployment of more warplanes and personnel
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Jan. 20 denounced the United States for the deployment of additional warplanes and military personnel in South Korea, amid ongoing multilateral talks on the North's nuclear disarmament.
"The U.S. recently deployed to the U.S. air base in Kunsan, North Jeolla Province, 20 F-16 fighters and about 300 personnel" from the mainland U.S., said a spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, affiliated with the North's ruling Workers' Party.
The statement, carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, follows criticism by a U.S. envoy of the Bush administration's continued engagement of North Korea, despite Pyongyang failing to submit a full list of its nuclear weapons programs by the deadline of Dec. 31, 2007.
Jay Lefkowitz, the envoy on North Korea's human rights, said last week that the U.S. should review its policy on Pyongyang given the lack of progress in the negotiations, complaining Pyongyang appears unwilling to abandon its nuclear arsenal.
Despite the U.S. State Department having said the envoy's remarks "certainly don't represent" those of the U.S. administration, critics say the remarks should be seen as an attempt by hardliners to reverse the current strategy of engagement amid a changing political landscape both at home and abroad.
The Bush administration has less than one year left in office and South Korea's conservative incoming President Lee Myung-bak has pledged not to engage the North unless Pyongyang abandons its nuclear weapons, unlike his predecessor, liberal President Roh Moo-hyun, who was often at odds with Bush over North Korea policy.
"The Korean Peninsula is currently witnessing the process of denuclearization under a six-party agreement and we are opening inter-Korean rapprochement and a new era of peace and prosperity," the North's spokesman said. "However, the U.S.'s reckless attempt to invoke a military showdown clearly shows who is responsible for the deadlocked talks for peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula."
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North Korean media calls for abolition of NLL
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea's media on Jan. 20 urged South Korea to abolish a disputed maritime border in the West Sea, calling it a major obstacle to improvement in inter-Korean ties and a factor that could lead to a fratricidal war.
"The Northern Limit Line is a dangerous factor which undermines peace and security and serves as a dangerous factor which might bring about fratricidal war on the Korean Peninsula," the Japan-based pro-Pyongyang Web site "Uriminjokkiri" said, citing Jan. 19's edition of the Tongil Shinbo, Pyongyang's weekly for overseas publicity of the communist country.
The report comes as the incoming government of President-elect Lee Myung-bak made it clear it will reconsider the Roh Moo-hyun administration's plan to establish a joint fishing zone and a special economic cooperation zone in and around the disputed waters as part of a series of inter-Korean rapprochement agreements Roh signed with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in October last year.
Rep. Park Jin of the major opposition Grand National Party, who heads the national security and foreign affairs section of Lee's transition team, has said, "We need to cautiously approach the issue because it involves the NLL. It is problematic that the Roh government is pushing ahead with it without considering the military issue."
The Koreas held several meetings since October, but failed to agree on establishing a joint fishing area along the NLL, which has served as the de facto maritime border since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
The North does not recognize the NLL and insists on setting up the area south of the line, while South Korea wants the area to include waters on both sides of the NLL.
"It is a tragedy that we still have the relics of the showdown era like the NLL, although these days we are unfolding a new era of self-propelled national unification and peace and prosperity," the North's Web site said. "We need to strive to get rid of the factor for friction like the NLL which runs against national reconciliation and unification."
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North Korea urges U.S. to carry out nuclear deal
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Jan. 22 reiterated its call for the United States to honor its part of a denuclearization deal, blaming the U.S. for a deadlock in negotiations.
Minju Joson, a mouthpiece of the North Korean Cabinet, said the deadlock was caused by Washington's failure to remove Pyongyang from the country's list of states sponsoring terrorism and take other measures promised under a six-party agreement.
The U.S. has said North Korea missed a year-end deadline to disable its key nuclear facilities and provide a full inventory of its nuclear programs. The North, however, insists it provided a full list in November.
North Korea was supposed to receive 1 million tons of energy assistance from the other parties involved -- South Korea, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia -- in return for implementing the deal.
Washington was also to reciprocate by taking the communist country off its list of terrorism-sponsoring countries and lifting its ban on trade with the North.
"It was because of the U.S. and other involved countries' failure to go in step with our implementation of the accord that certain problems were raised in the two-stage project," the newspaper said in a commentary carried by the (North) Korean Central News Agency.
"There can be progress in denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula only when the U.S. faithfully carries out its duty," the newspaper said. "It is absurd to say, without doing what they are supposed to do, that the denuclearization is being delayed because we did not make a nuclear declaration."
The newspaper also claimed Pyongyang has consistently acted strongly against what it called the U.S. policy of confrontation. "We have always responded to the U.S. hardline policy with a ultra-hardline policy," it said.
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North Korea reaffirms intent to denuclearize
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea has a "firm intention" to denuclearize in accordance with the "action-for-action principle" of a key international deal, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper said on Jan. 23.
The report came as skepticism mounts in the United States and other nations over Pyongyang's commitment to denuclearization.
The six-party talks have been stalemated over Pyongyang's failure to meet a Dec. 31 deadline for disabling its key nuclear facilities and declaring all of its nuclear programs.
Under the six-party agreement reached last October, North Korea agreed to receive 1 million tons of energy assistance from the other parties involved -- South Korea, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia -- in return for giving a full account of the programs. Washington was to reciprocate by taking the communist country off its list of terrorism-sponsoring countries and lifting its ban on trade with the North.
"The DPRK (North Korea) has a firm intention to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. The key is the U.S. and other parties' implementation of their end of the deal," said Choson Sinbo, an organ of the pro-Pyongyang General Asssociation of Korean Residents in Japan. Choson Sinbo normally reflects the views of the North Korean regime.
"The DPRK will continue to fulfill what it is supposed to do, in accordance with the action-for-action principle, when the U.S. carries out its duty," the newspaper said.
Pyongyang's efforts to denuclearize the peninsula will continue "even after the two-stage measure (of disablement and declaration) is complete," it added.
The newspaper also echoed Pyongyang's claim that Washington's failure to carry out its end of the agreement caused a delay in the denuclearization process.
It also claimed the North submitted a complete list of its nuclear programs in November.
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North Korea marks anniversary of USS Pueblo seizure
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea demanded the United States end its "hostile policy" toward the communist state on Jan. 23 as Pyongyang marked the 40th anniversary of its seizure of a U.S. spy ship.
An unnamed spokesman for the (North) Korean National Peace Committee, one of Pyongyang's propaganda organizations, called the incident "a product of the U.S. gangster-like policy of aggression against the DPRK (North Korea) in every aspect" in a statement issued on the eve of the anniversary.
"The root cause of war is the confrontation ruckus kicked up by the U.S. conservative hardliners who are keen on pursuing the hostile policy toward the DPRK, talking about the 'nuclear issue'," said the statement carried by the (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Jan. 23.
The USS Pueblo, a 906-ton U.S. intelligence ship, was attacked and seized by Pyongyang on Jan. 23, 1968. One American sailor was killed in the assault and 82 others were captured and held prisoner for 11 months before they were freed.
North Korea has displayed the ship along the Taedong River in Pyongyang for anti-American propaganda purposes, and allowed tour groups to visit the vessel.
The statement called on the U.S. not to forget the "bitter lesson" from the incident, demanding Washington stop what it called the hostile policy toward Pyongyang and replace the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War with a peace accord.
The two Koreas remain technically at war as the three-year conflict did not end with a peace treaty.
In another development, the Pyongyang office of the Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front claimed on Jan. 22 that the U.S. will face a "humiliating knockdown" by North Korea "that is now a thousand times stronger than 40 years ago" if it continues to be hostile toward the communist state.
The front is a North Korean propaganda group which the country alleges is an underground South Korean organization.
Pyongyang's official Website Uriminzokkiri and Radio Pyongyang also said North Korea "defended" its dignity and sovereignty by forcing Washington to apologize for spying in North Korean waters.
(END)
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