*** CHRONOLOGICAL REVIEW

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- The following is a chronological review of major developments related to North Korea from March 10 to March 16, 2011.

  
March
10 The (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, together with senior ruling party officials, inspected various industrial establishments in Hamhung.

   10 The North Hwanghae Provincial Committee of the North Korea-Vietnam Friendship Association is inaugurated with a ceremony in Sariwon.

   11 Kim Jong-il sends a message of greetings to Anerood Jugnauth, president of Mauritius, on the occasion of the 43rd anniversary of its independence and the 19th anniversary of the proclamation of its republic.

   11 Kim Yong-nam, president of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) Presidium, meets with Thomas Curley, president and chief executive officer of The Associated Press of the United States, at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang.

   11 Russian Vice Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin visits the statue of late North Korean President Kim Il-sung on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang to pay homage to him.

   12 The KCNA in an editorial ridicules a recent comment by South Korea's "chief executive" that said Seoul was ready to have dialogue with the North, saying his remarks "cannot but arouse derision."

   12 Kim Jong-il sends a wreath to the bier of Choe Ro-sa, a Kim Il-sung Prize winner and soldier-turned-veteran poet, expressing deep condolences over her death.

   13 The KCNA reports that Kim Jong-il and his youngest son and heir apparent, Kim Jong-un, watched a performance given by the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Navy of the (North) Korean People's Army (KPA).

   14 Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun holds talks with Alexei Borodavkin and his party at the Mansudae Assembly Hall.

   14 Jang Jae-on, the head of the North Korean Red Cross, sends a message of sympathy to his Japanese counterpart, Konoe Tadateru, on the earthquake and tsunami that claimed huge casualties and material losses in Japan's northeastern region.

   15 The Rodong Sinmun, a paper of the North's ruling party, slams Seoul's Unification Minister Hyun In-taek over his comments regarding inter-Korean dialogue and accuses South Korean authorities of having "no willingness to mend the stalled North-South relations."

   15 The KCNA says North Korea informed Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin that Pyongyang was ready to rejoin the six-party talks "without any preconditions" and hopes to work under an "action-for-action principle."

   15 The Rodong Sinmun says the joint Key Resolve and Foal Eagle military drills by South Korea and the United States have become "all the more vicious in their aggressive nature and provocative content."

   16 The Rodong Sinmun argues that inter-Korean dialogue and war exercises cannot go hand in hand, referring to ongoing joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington.

   16 The KCNA, citing an official of the State General Bureau of Tourism, says it expects the number of foreign tourists to likely increase this year.

   16 A delegation of the North's Information Committee headed by Vice Chairman Jong Yong-chol embarks on a trip to Malaysia and Laos.

   16 North Korea appoints Ro Kyong-chol as ambassador to Pakistan according to a decree of the SPA Presidium.

   16 The KCNA reports that Ju Sang-song, the North's minister of People's Security, was dismissed from his post due to unidentified health problems.

   16 The KCNA reports that Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un inspected a factory under the KPA Navy Unit 597.

  (END)