*** NEWS IN BRIEF

North Korea Reiterates Call for Inter-Korean Dialogue

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Jan. 16 renewed its call for dialogue with South Korea, insisting that dialogue and negotiations are the only way for improving inter-Korean relations.

   A Rodong Sinmun article, carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, urged the South Korean government to come out for dialogue and negotiations at an early date in response to the North's previous proposals.

   "Dialogue and negotiations are the only just way for independently solving the issue of the country's reunification by the concerted efforts of the Koreans," said the newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party.

   "No issue can be solved by way of confrontation. This is proved by the last three years of confrontation," it said, without mentioning the socialist state's artillery attacks on a South Korean border island and other provocations last year.

   Over the past weeks, North Korea has repeatedly proposed holding talks with South Korea on ways to promote economic cooperation between the countries.

   In a pair of messages, the North proposed the sides meet on Feb. 11 to discuss the resumption of cross-border tours and on Feb. 9 to facilitate their cooperation involving a joint factory complex in the socialist country.

   But the South Korean government has flatly turned down the North's dialogue proposals, saying that any future inter-Korean dialogue should serve as a venue for North Korea to affirm its commitment to denuclearization.

  
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Food Shortage Must Be Solved by Higher Domestic Production: Paper

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea's main newspaper stressed the importance of boosting domestic agricultural output and said that it is the only way to tackle the nation's chronic food crisis.

   The Rodong Sinmun, paper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, said in a front-page editorial on Jan. 17 that all people "should bring about a radical turn in grain production this year and thus conclude the march for great surge with shining victory."

   The editorial further stressed the importance of the agricultural front, calling it "the lifeline for solving the problem of people's living" and also said that agricultural production is the key to opening the gate to a Kangsong Taeguk (great, prosperous and powerful nation).

   Despite Pyongyang's efforts to improve the nation's economy and the lives of its people, North Koreans face worsening food shortages and economic woes due to dwindling food production and the impact of reduced international aid, according to Seoul officials.

   Citing a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report, the U.S.-based Radio Free Asia reported on Jan. 4 that the North needs to import about 800,000 tons of food to make up for the shortfall in food supplies needed until November of this year.

  
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Joint Statement for Dialogue Includes Message For U.S., China

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- A joint statement by key North Korean bodies urging for inter-Korean dialogue also carries a message for the U.S. and China, which were scheduled to discuss the developments surrounding the Korean Peninsula at an upcoming bilateral summit, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper in Japan said on Jan. 18.

   On Jan. 5, North Korean government, ruling party and organizations held a meeting regarding the escalated tension followed by the North's shelling of a South Korean border island in November. The meeting adopted a joint statement calling for unconditional cross-border talks for "peace and reunification."

   The Chosun Sinbo, published by the General Association of Korean residents in Japan (Chongryon), noted that the Korean Peninsula has emerged as an important issue of joint interest and that the North's recent proposal, while aimed at Seoul, also carries an "important message" to the super powers.

   The paper argued that the message is a proposal to eradicate the threat of war from the peninsula through dialogue and praised the North for suggesting "a way out" from the difficult situation.

   The White House also said that North Korea will be among the major topics at the crucial Sino-U.S. summit on Jan. 19.

  
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North Korean Leader Inspects Glass, Machinery Factories

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has recently given rounds of field guidances at various production facilities nationwide, making his first public appearances in 2011.

   The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Jan. 12 that Kim visited the newly built Nampho Glass Bottle Factory, marking his first public appearance since attending a New Year's concert on Dec. 31, along with his heir-apparent Kim Jong-un, in Pyongyang.

   "He went round the room dedicated to the history of the factory, products showroom, combined production control room and various other places of the factory to learn in detail about its construction and equipment and production there," the KCNA report said, without mentioning whether Jong-un was on hand.

   The KCNA on Jan. 14 also reported that Kim traveled to three factories -- the Amnok River Gauge and Instrument General Factory, the Suphung Bearing Factory and the Amnok River Daily Necessities Factory -- in North Pyongan Province.

   As customary, the report did not give the exact date of the visit, but North Korea's official media usually report on Kim's public activities a day or more after they take place.

   A day later, the KCNA reported on Kim's visit to the Taegwan Glass factory, which it said "has been successfully put on a computer-numeric controlled (CNC) system."

   The CNC technology is linked to the North's heir-apparent Kim Jong-un, as the socialist country has propagated the technology development as his own feat. According to the report, the leader-in-waiting accompanied his father's trip to the glass factory.

   On Jan. 18, the KCNA said that Kim gave field guidance to the technologically updated January 18 General Machinery Plant. During the inspection, Kim also expressed satisfaction over the facility and watched the "production processes equipped with homemade CNC-based machines and new machinery."

  
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North Korea Apparently Struggling to Curb Foot-and-mouth Disease

SEOUL/TOKYO (Yonhap) -- While no official confirmation has been made from North Korea, reports from South Korea and Japan suggest that the socialist country is battling the animal disease foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).

   FMD is highly contagious and affects cloven-hoofed animals like cattle, pigs, deer, goats and sheep. The disease causes blisters on the mouth and feet of livestock and leads to death. It is rarely transmitted to humans. Direct contact between animals can spread the disease, and it can be carried through the air and on clothing.

   Citing recent visitors to the impoverished socialist country, South Korean government officials said on Jan. 18 that the North is believed to be stepping up its quarantine efforts after outbreaks of the deadly animal disease were reported.

   "Military personnel are said to have been mobilized in the fight," one official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the information was currently classified as intelligence.

   It remains unclear where the FMD, if confirmed, may have originated, but since November, South Korea has been struggling to contain the disease on its own soil.

   North Korea has banned the inflow of pork and beef from South Korea since late December of last year for fear that the disease may spread there.

   Moreover, head of the Tokyo-based human rights group Rescue the North Korean People (RENK), on Jan. 18 quoted a source in North Korea as saying that sales of pork have been banned in a district inside Pyongyang over the past four to five days.

   "A livestock farm in the Kangdong District inside Pyongyang was hit by FMD and we're aware that pork sales in the area was banned for the past four to five days," Lee Young-hwa, head of RENK, told Yonhap News Agency.

   In 2007, North Korea suffered outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, prompting South Korea to dispatch a team of animal health experts amid a mood of reconciliation.

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