KJU Election as Delegate Endorsed by Local Party Conferences

Kim Jong Un (C) attending a concert by the U'nhasu Orchestra in March. Also seen in attendance is DPRK Premier Choe Yong Rim (L) and Jang Song Taek (R)

The Korean Workers’ Party [KWP] has continued to hold provincial party conferences to elect delegates (party representatives) to the 4th Party Conference to be held in the middle of April.  Participants in the provincial party conferences endorsed the election of Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n) as a delegate to the 4th Party Conference.  According to KCNA, provincial party conferences were held in Jagang, South Hwanghae, North P’yo’ngan and Kangwo’n and a city party conference was held in Raso’n (Rajin-So’nbong is one of three province-level cities).  On 26 March, KJU was elected a delegate to the 4th Party Conference by the party organization (KWP committee) of the Korean People’s Army [KPA].

KCNA reports:

Present there were delegates elected at the party organizations of cities and counties in the provinces and those performing the same function as theirs’ and the party organizations of the provincial institutions.

The delegates paid silent tribute to leader Kim Jong Il.

The meetings discussed the election of delegates to the WPK Conference.

Addresses on electing the dear respected Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader of the WPK and the Korean people, as a delegate to the WPK Conference were made at the meetings.

The addresses said that Kim Jong Il defended the socialist country and laid the foundation for the happy life of the Korean people while hewing the untrodden difficult path in the van with his iron will and superhuman energy.

Kim Jong Un is the supreme leader of the WPK and the Korean people who is leading to victory the revolutionary cause of Juche and the cause of building a thriving nation which was pioneered by President Kim Il Sung and advanced by Kim Jong Il, the addresses noted, adding that the ideological and theoretical guidelines have been provided to boundlessly glorify the Juche idea and the Songun idea and the day of victory of the revolutionary cause of Juche and the cause of building a thriving nation is coming near thanks to the energetic ideological and theoretical activities and tested leadership of Kim Jong Un.

The addresses praised him as the great statesman who is wisely leading the revolution and construction as a whole with his tested leadership and the general of Mt. Paektu style who is making the DPRK shed its rays as a military power, possessed of the distinguished quality and trait and organizational ability that no one can match.

The addresses courteously proposed to elect him as a delegate to the WPK Conference, representing the unanimous will and desire of all the party members and other people in the provinces and the city.

At the meetings speakers fully supported and approved the proposal on electing him as a delegate to the WPK Conference.

The meetings unanimously adopted decisions on electing him as a delegate to the WPK Conference.

The meetings elected delegates to the WPK Conference.

Yonhap reports:

After a series of party meetings countrywide, North Korea has elected new leader Kim Jong-un as a delegate to this month’s ruling party conference, the North’s state media said Sunday, in a move seen by outside analysts as another effort to consolidate Kim’s grip on power.

The North’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) plans to hold a special session on April 13 and is expected to appoint the young Kim, believed to be in his late 20s, to the post of general secretary of the party. The same post was held by his late father Kim Jong-il.

The young leader became supreme commander of the North’s 1.1 million-strong military shortly after his father’s death in December, as he progressively takes more control of the communist country.

Announcing Kim as a WPK delegate, representatives “praised him as the great statesman who is wisely leading the revolution and construction as a whole with his tested leadership,” according to an English-language report by the Korean Central News Agency.

Ahead of the upcoming special session, the party meetings represented “the unanimous will and desire of all the party members and other people,” the report continued.

North Korea is preparing a grandiose celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of late founding leader Kim Il-sung, grandfather of Kim Jong-un, on April 15.

In the first international conflict since the death of Kim Jong-il, North Korea has vowed to press ahead with a plan to launch a long-range rocket, ostensibly to put a satellite into orbit, between April 12 and 16, rebuffing a chorus of international warnings.

South Korea, the United States and Japan have demanded North Korea call off the planned launch, warning it would violate a U.N. resolution that bans any ballistic missile tests by the communist country.

North Korea has refused to budge, arguing that it has a sovereign right to fire the rocket as part of its “peaceful” exploration of the space.

KJI Meets with Le Keqiang

Kim Jong Il shakes hands with Chinese Vice Premier Le Keqiang (Photo: Xinhua/KCNA)

Taking time from a recent spate of KPA field inspections and on-the-spot guidance visits, Kim Jong Il met with Chinese Vice Premier Le Keqiang and a delegation of senior PRC officials on Tuesday (25 October).  Le arrived in the DPRK on Sunday (23 October) where he was greeted on the tarmac by DPRK Vice Premier Kang Sok Ju, CC KWP Secretary and International Department Director Kim Yong Il, CC KWP Secretary Mun Kyong Dok and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Song Gi.  On Monday, Le had separate meetings with DPRK Premier Choe Yong Rim and SPA President Kim Yong Nam.  Le met with KJI and attended a banquet.  Along with KJI, other members of the DPRK central leadership who dined with Le included Jang Song Taek, Kim Jong Un, VMar Ri Yong Ho, Kang Sok Ju and Kim Yang Gon.

Kim Jong Il receives presents from the Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Le Keqiang (L) with other members of the DPRK central leadership in attendance (Photo: KCNA)

A decorative panel, among the gifts presented to Kim Jong Il, by the Chinese delegation during their visit during 24-25 October 2011 (Photo: KCNA)

Chinese Vice Premier Le Keqiang toasts with Kim Jong Il during a banquet he hosted for the Chinese delegation(Photo: KCNA)

On Monday (24 October), Le visited the Friendship Tower where he placed a wreath and signed the guest book.  He also toured a Chinese language class and the e-library at Kim Il Sung University.  KCNA reports:

After the DPRK military band played the national anthems of both countries, Li entered the tower where he skimmed through the martyrs’ book, watched the wall paintings describing how the Chinese volunteers joined the war and helped the DPRK people with construction.

Li said during the visit that peace does not come easily, so the achievements of construction should be treasured even more.

As a symbol of China-DPRK friendship, the Friendship Tower was completed in 1959.

Also on Monday, Li visited Kim Il Sung University where he observed Chinese-language studies and chatted with teachers and students.

Li said the future of the China-DPRK ties depends on the youths of both countries, encouraging DPRK students to promote cooperation between the two countries and pass down China-DPRK friendship from generation to generation.

Li toured the e-library of the university and donated education facilities and books. He arrived here on Sunday for an official goodwill visit to the DPRK

Le’s visit to Pyongyang, which will be followed by a trip ROK during 26 to 27 October, occurred amid other activities and events between the DPRK and PRC.  On 21 October (Friday) the P’ibada opera troupe departed to Beijing for a three month tour through China of its production Butterfly Lovers (Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai).  A delegation of Chinese media officials visited the DPRK at the beginning of the month for five (5) days and  (collectively?) commented they “were deeply moved by the profound friendship between China and the DPRK sealed with blood.”  On 18 October, Chinese press reported that officials of its Railways Bureau completed an inspection of the China-DPRK Friendship Bridge, which links Dandong to Sinuiju, North Pyongan.  The month-long inspection found the 70-year bridge safe for traffic.  PRC Ambassador to the DPRK, Liu Hongcai, along with his wife and embassy officials, took part in crop harvesting at the DPRK-China T’aegam Friendship Farm in Sunan District in Pyongyang on 13 October.  On Saturday, Liu told Xinhua:

He pointed out that the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has shown great potential, with bilateral trade and investment volume reaching new highs.

The bilateral trade volume was 3.1 billion U.S. dollars in the first seven months of this year, registering a year-on-year increase of 87 percent, the ambassador said.

Liu stressed that the DPRK’s increased emphasis on economic development and improving people’s living standard is broadening its foreign economic cooperation and attracting more Chinese enterprises to do business and invest in the country.

Liu expressed his belief that Chinese Vice Premier Li’s upcoming visit will further strengthen political mutual trust between the two countries, deepen the bilateral economic and trade cooperation, help promote the China-DPRK friendship and cooperation to a higher level, and make positive contribution to the maintenance and promotion of regional peace and stability.

The DPRK has not restricted its external contacts to the Chinese.  In Bangkok, Thailand, US and DPRK officials agreed on the resumption of recovery missions of US service members killed during active hostilities of the Korean (Fatherland Liberation) War.  In Geneva, the US and DPRK concluded its two-day interaction.  Neither a significant breakthrough nor announcement was expected, but outgoing special envoy Stephen Bosworth said the two countries “narrowed our differences.”  Heading the DPRK’s delegation in Switzerland was senior (first) vice minister of foreign affairs, Kim Kye Gwan, distinctly not present in Pyongyang to participate in the meeting with a senior official from his country’s closest ally.  AFP reports:

The parties were able to narrow some differences, although more time was needed to reach an agreement, Stephen Bosworth, outgoing US special representative told reporters following the talks.

“We had some very positive and generally constructive talks with the DPRK delegation. We narrowed differences on several points and explored differences on other points,” he said.

Bosworth noted that there remained sticking points, “not all of which can be overcome quickly.”

However, “I am confident that with continued efforts on both sides we can reach a reasonable basis of departure for formal negotiations for the return of the six party process,” he added.

Together with his successor Glyn Davies, Bosworth met the North Korean delegation led by first vice minister Kim Kye-Gwan over two days in Geneva. The meeting, which took place first at the US embassy on Monday, rotated to the North Korean mission on Tuesday.

It coincided with a visit by China’s vice premier Li Keqiang to Pyongyang, where he met North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, according to Chinese state media.

Kim told Li that Pyongyang “hopes the six-party talks about the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula should be restarted as soon as possible”, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported early Tuesday.

The “principle of simultaneous action” should apply, it quoted Kim as saying — a reiteration of the North’s stance that the negotiations should begin again without preconditions.

Korean People's Navy (KPA Navy) Senior Vice Admiral Kim Myong Sik, commander of the East Sea Command (Photo: KCNA)

From Geneva, Kim Kye Gwan traveled to Moscow.  His arrival occurred a week following additional DPRK interactions with the Russian Federation.  On 20 October the KPA Navy’s commander of the East Sea (of Japan) fleet visited Vladivostok.  Senior Vice Admiral Kim Myong Sik met with senior officials of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, in addition to visiting other areas in the vicinity.  Kim’s meeting focused on finalizing preparations for a visit by a DPRK vessel to visit Vladivostok in November, as well as discussing a joint naval drill between the two countries.  In Pyongyang, Oleg Kozhemyako met with DPRK Premier Choe Yong Rim on 19 October (Wednesday) and attended a dinner with Kim Jong Il.

Kim Jong Il poses for a commemorative photo with a delegation from the Amur Region of Russia during their visit to the DPRK (Photo: KCNA)

KJI Arrives in Siberia

A railway station in Khasan, near the DPRK-Russia border (Photo: Google image)

Kim Jong Il (Kim Cho’ng-il) arrived in Khasan, in Russia’s Far East on Saturday (20 August), his first trip to Russia since 2002.  In an unusual move, KCNA reported KJI’s trip just prior to his departure from the DPRK, although it did not state whether this visit is “unofficial:

 

Chairman Kim Jong Il of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will pay an unofficial visit to Siberia and Far Eastern region of the Russian Federation at the invitation of Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation.

During the visit the top leaders of the two countries will have a meeting.

Kim Jong Il visiting Russia's Far East in 2002 (Photo: KCNA)

During what is said to be a week-long trip, KJI (once known as Yura) is expected to travel to Ussuriysk and then Ulan Ude where Izvestia reports he will meet with Medvedev.  Yonhap, via Korea Times, reports:

Kim visited the Russian Far East in 2002 after making a 24-day trip to Moscow and other Russian cities in July 2001.

The reclusive leader traveled to China in May for the third visit to his country’s closest ally in just over a year.

Kim is expected to visit a dam in Ussuriysk, 112 kilometers north of Vladivostok, after leaving Khasan, according to other sources well informed on relations between North Korea and Russia.

If Kim visits the Russian dam facilities, the two countries are then expected to open discussions on enhancing bilateral cooperation in energy.

Earlier in the day, an informed source in Moscow said Kim will hold summit talks with Medvedev in Ulan-Ude, the third-largest city in eastern Siberia, on Tuesday.

In this regard, a Russian Far Eastern news agency reported that the North Korean leader is expected to directly head to Ulan-Ude, located near Lake Baikal, to meet with Medvedev without stopping in other Russian cities.

There have been increasing DPRK-Russian interactions in recent weeks.  On 26 July, the Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries hosted a “friendship meeting” which commemorated KJI’s 2001 trip to the Federation and “the adoption of the DPRK-Russia Moscow Declaration.”  On 28 July, in a commemoration of the same event, an exhibition was opened at the Pyongyang Center for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries.  At the same time, two documentary films about KJI’s Russian trips were screened at Taedongmun Cinema in Pyongyang.  On 14 August DPRK media reported that KJI received a telegram from Medvedev on the occasion of the Korean Peninsula’s liberation that said, “History has proved the solidity of friendship between the people of our two countries.  We are willing to expand cooperation with the DPRK in all directions of mutual interest, including a trilateral plan among Russia, the DPRK and the ROK in the fields of gasification, energy, and railway construction.”

This does not account for the various food aid commitments made by Russia in recent weeks.  During May 2011, Kim Jong Il received former Russian Premier and current SVR chief, Mikhail Fradkov, and a small delegation during a brief stop in the DPRK.  From June through July, Kim Kyong Hui (Kim Kyo’ng-hu’i) visited Russia.  At the end of June the DPRK’s ambassador in Moscow, Kim Yong Jae (Kim Yo’ng-ch’ae) met with Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller, and this interaction was followed up in July by Gazprom executives visiting the DPRK where they met with Cabinet officials, including Vice Premier and foreign policy boss Kang Sok Ju (Kang So’k-chu).

RT reports about KJI’s upcoming interactions with Russian officials:

The agenda for the meeting between the two heads of state is expected to include issues tied to further energy co-operation between the two countries, the protracted negotiations on denuclearization, and tensions between South and North Korea.

Another major issue on the table for discussion are plans to build a gas pipeline from Russia’s Far East through North Korea to South Korea, believes Georgy Toloraya, Director of Korean Studies in Russian Academy of Science.

The Russian gas giant, Gazprom, is already in talks with North Korean officials about the plans. However, in a trip to Moscow earlier this month, South Korea’s foreign minister said his country would only support the project if there were guarantees that the North would honor its obligations and not use the pipe to put pressure on the South.

Toloraya believes Kim Jong Il could give such guarantees during the meeting with President Medvedev. “On the one hand, such a project would increase trust and stability between two Koreas. On the other hand, it would help North Korea to be more self- sufficient in energy and so [make its behaviour] more predictable,” Toloraya added.

He also believes transit gas from Russia would “diminish [North Korea’s] need for nuclear power production even for peaceful purposes, so it could be another argument for full denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

Kim Jong Il Meets Li Yuanchao

Li Yuanchao (L, front), a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and also secretary of the CPC Central Committee Secretariat and head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, displays the gift to Kim Jong Il (R, front), general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defense Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), in Pyongyang, capital of the DPRK, June 13, 2011. Kim met with Li on Monday. (Xinhua)

Kim Jong Il (Kim Cho’ng-il) met with Li Yuanchao, head of the CPCC Organization Department and member of the Political Bureau of the CPC on Monday (13 June).  Li arrived in the DPRK on Friday (10 June) and has held two meetings with the DPRK leadership, as well as attended receptions, an opera performance and presented a floral wreath at the DPRK-PRC Friendship Tower.  Xinhua reports:

Li first conveyed the cordial greetings of Chinese President Hu Jintao to Kim, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defense Commission of the DPRK.

Li, also a secretary of the CPC Central Committee Secretariat and head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, spoke highly of the ties between the two parties and two countries. Li said Kim’s successful visit to China in May pushed bilateral friendly cooperation to a higher level.

China is willing to work with the DPRK to fulfill the consensus reached between the top leaders of the two parties and countries, strengthen strategic communication and deepen politic mutual trust, expand practical cooperation and maintain communication and coordination on major regional and international issues, he said.

Li expressed belief that under the leadership of Kim, the DPRK would reach its goal of opening the gate of a prosperous and powerful nation in 2012.

Kim asked Li to convey his greetings and goodwill to President Hu.

Kim said he reached important consensus with the leaders of the CPC and the Chinese government on consolidating and strengthening traditional DPRK-China friendship.

Under the current complex international situation, it is of great importance for the two parties and countries to boost solidarity and cooperation and communicate on socialist construction experiences, he said.

Kim Jong Il (R, front), general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defense Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), shakes hands with Li Yuanchao (L, front), a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and also secretary of the CPC Central Committee Secretariat and head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, in Pyongyang, capital of the DPRK, June 13, 2011. Kim met with Li on Monday. (Xinhua)

CC KWP Secretary and Member of the CC KWP Political Bureau, Choe Tae Bok (Choe T'ae-pok) greets Li Yuanchao (R), head of the CPC Organization Department CPC Political Bureau Member, at Sunan Airport in Pyongyang on Friday, 10 June (Photo: KCNA)

A female employee of the PRC Embassy in the DPRK presents Li Yuanchao (R) with a floral bouquet following his arrival in Pyongyang on 10 June 2011 (Photo: KCNA)

Li Yuanchao arrived on Friday, greeted at the airport by Choe T’ae-pok (Choe Tae Bok), CC KWP Secretary and Political Bureau member.  KCNA reported that Li and Choe led a “strategic dialogue ” between the CPC and KWP:

Present there from the DPRK side were Choe Thae Bok, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the C.C. , the WPK, and Department Director Ri Yong Su and other officials of the C.C., the WPK.

Present there from the Chinese side were Li Yuanchao, member of the Political Bureau and the Secretariat of the C.C., the CPC who is head of its Organization Department, Wang Jiarui, head of the International Liaison Department of the C.C., the CPC, Sun Zhengcai, secretary of the Jilin Provincial Committee of the CPC, Liu Hongcai, Chinese ambassador to the DPRK, Pan Ligang, director of a bureau of the Organization Department of the C.C., the CPC, Li Xi, head of the Organization Department of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the CPC, Shi Taifeng, head of the Organization Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the CPC, and Yang Yanyi, assistant to the head of the International Liaison Department of the C.C., the CPC.

At the strategic dialogue both sides informed each other of their party activities and exchanged views on the issue of boosting the friendly and cooperative relations between the two parties

A female DPRK employee presents Li Yuanchao with a floral bouquet after his arrival at Sunan Airport in Pyongyang on 10 June (Friday) ( Photo: KCNA)

The DPRK side of what KCNA described as "strategic dialogue" between the KWP and CPC, led by Choe Tae Bok (3rd L) (Photo: KCNA)

PRC side of what KCNA described as a "strategic dialogue" between the KWP and CPC, led by Li Yuanchao (3rd R). (Photo: KCNA)

Ahead of Li’s meeting with Kim Cho’ng-il, there was a meeting of party department directors Kim Yo’ng-il (Kim Yong Il) from the DPRK and Wang Jiarui from PRC:

Talks were held between Kim Yong Il, alternate member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the C.C., the Workers’ Party of Korea, and Wang Jiarui, head of the International Liaison Department of the CPC C.C., in Pyongyang Sunday.

Present there from the DPRK side were Vice Department Directors Kim Song Nam and Pak Gun Kwang and officials of the International Affairs Department of the C.C., the WPK and from the Chinese side officials of the International Liaison Department of the CPC C.C. who are members of the delegation of the CPC and Miao Weicheng, councilor of the Chinese embassy here.

Li Yuanchao arranging the presentation of a floral wreath at the DPRK-PRC Friendship Tower in Pyongyang on 11 June (Photo: KCNA)

Li Yuanchao greeting SPA Presidium President, Kim Yong Nam (Kim Yo'ng-nam) June 2011 (Photo: KCNA)

Li Yuanchao also met with SPA Presidium President Kim Yo’ng-nam which was reported 12 June (Sunday):

Present there were Kim Ki Nam, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the C.C., the WPK, Kim Yong Il, alternate member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the C.C., the WPK, officials of the C.C., the WPK and Chinese Ambassador to the DPRK Liu Hongcai and his embassy officials.

Li Yuanchao said that the current China visit by General Secretary Kim Jong Il was successful, adding that the top leaders of the two countries developed the China-DPRK friendly and cooperative relations to a new higher stage.

He expressed the conviction that the Korean people would register greater successes and significantly greet 2012, the centenary of birth of President Kim Il Sung under the wise leadership of Kim Jong Il.

Kim Jong Il (5th L, front), general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defense Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), poses with the Chinese delegation led by Li Yuanchao (4th L, front), a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and also secretary of the CPC Central Committee Secretariat and head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, in Pyongyang, capital of the DPRK, June 13, 2011. Kim met with Li on Monday. (Xinhua)

2nd Meeting of PRC-DPRK Economic Zone Guidance Committee

The venue for a foundation stone-laying ceremony at Hwanggu'mp'yo'ng Island in North P'yo'ngan Province on 8 June. The signboard reads, "A construction site for a groundbreaking ceremony for the development of Hwanggumphyong Island." (Yonhap)

The DPRK and PRC held the second meeting of its committee supervising the development of Naso’n (Najin-So’ngbong) and two area in North P’yo’ngan Province (Hwanggu’mp’yo’ng and Wihwa).  KCNA reported:

The second meeting of the DPRK-China Joint Guidance Committee for jointly developing and operating the Rason Economic and Trade Zone and the Hwanggumphyong and Wihwa Islands Economic Zone took place in Liaoning and Jilin Provinces of China on Wednesday.

Present there were Jang Song Thaek, vice-chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission and chairman of the DPRK Side Committee of the DPRK-China Joint Guidance Committee, and officials of the International Affairs Department of the C.C., Workers’ Party of Korea, the Joint Venture Investment Committee, the Foreign Ministry, the North Phyongan Provincial People’s Committee and the Rason City People’s Committee.

On hand were Chen Deming, minister of Commerce of China and chairman of the Chinese Side Committee of the China -DPRK Joint Guidance Committee, and officials of the International Liaison Department of the C.C., the Communist Party of China, the Foreign Ministry, the National Development and Reform Committee and the Liaoning and Jilin Provincial People’s governments.

At the meeting the DPRK and Chinese sides agreed to build the two economic zones into a model of the DPRK-China economic and trade cooperation and a theatre of developing the economic and trade cooperation with other countries by the joint efforts.

Minutes of the second meeting were signed by Jang Song Thaek and Chen Deming.

The Jilin Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Jilin Provincial People’s Government arranged a reception that day.

Political Bureau Meets

The CC KWP Political Bureau convocated an “enlarged meeting” on Monday [6 June], according to KCNA.  Much of the agenda focused on a report about Kim Cho’ng-il’s recently completed trip to China.  KCNA reported, in part:

The meeting highly estimated the fact that the leaders of the two countries promised each other to set store by the traditional bilateral friendship from a perspective and strategic insight, consistently and firmly maintain it and develop and carry it forward on a new higher stage generation after generation.

The meeting hailed the fact that during his recent visit the two sides discussed various important and principled matters such as the present bilateral relations of friendship, shared the understanding of them and reached a unanimous agreement on them.

The meeting called for making sincere efforts to fully implement in various fields the matters agreed upon between the leaders of the two countries and stressed the need to strikingly demonstrate once again the peculiarities of the DPRK-China friendship this significant year, 50th anniversary of the DPRK-China treaty of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance.

The meeting expressed warm approval of the results of Kim Jong Il’s recent China visit and manifested a resolution to boost the bilateral friendship in all fields generation after generation.

KBS reported:

The report said the North and China shared mutual understanding and expressed cooperation toward assuming independent stances over foreign relations.

A government official in Seoul said the North is apparently seeking to underline that it received China’s consent for taking hard-line stances against the South. Since Kim’s trip to China, Pyongyang has taken on firm positions against the South, including issuing new military threats.

Attention is being drawn to the meeting as 1981 was the last time the North disclosed that the Political Bureau Presidium, which is the considered the top decision-making body of the Workers’ Party, held an expanded meeting.

Moreover, it is unprecedented that the meeting discussed the North Korean leader’s trip to China.

The Political Bureau meeting also “relieved” Hong Sok Hyong as a central (CC KWP) party secretary because he moved to another, unspecified position.  Hong Sok Hyong had been working as department director of the CC KWP Finance and Planning Department since June 2010.  Hong is the only member of the Political Bureau who was born in ROK.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il poses for a commemorative photograph after conducting an inspection with officials at a fish farming research institute. (Korea Central News Agency/Yonhap)

SPA Decree Opens Wihwa and Hwanggumphyong Islands near DPRK-PRC Border

The Supreme People’s Assembly’s [SPA] Presidium adopted a decision to designate Wihwa and Hwangkimp’yo’ng Islands, and several other parcels in North P’yo’ngan Province near the DPRK-Sino border.  The DPRK announced it will begin development at Hwangkimp’yo’ng.  KCNA reports:

The DPRK decided to set up the Hwanggumphyong and Wihwa Islands Economic Zone in order to boost the DPRK-China friendship and expand and develop the external economic relations.

A decree of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly was promulgated on June 6 in this regard.

According to it, Hwanggumphyong-ri, Sindo County, Sangdan-ri, Hadan-ri and Taji-ri, Sinuiju City and Soho-ri, Uiju County of North Phyongan Province shall belong to the zone.

The sovereignty of the DPRK shall be exercised in the zone.

The development of the zone shall start from the Hwanggumphyong district.

Christine Kim reports in JoongAng Ilbo on the increasing cooperation between the DPRK and PRC, to the detriment of ROK entrepreneurs and ventures:

Yesterday, workers were seen getting ready for a ground-breaking ceremony at Hwanggumpyong, a joint industrial complex run by North Korea and China on an island in the Yalu River.

North Korea’s official news agency said the complex would further deepen economic ties between the two countries. The exact reverse is happening to South Korean businesspeople.

“South Korean firms and investors have pretty much let their businesses at the China-North Korea border go since last May,” said Choi, the owner of a restaurant in Dandong. Choi, 54, has been running his restaurant for a decade and, to him, the good times are over.

“When business was active between South and North Korea, there were about 1,000 South Korean businessmen working in Dandong, all doing work related to North Korea,” said Choi. “But now most of them have left.”

“Most of the manufacturing jobs done inside North Korea have been taken by Chinese investors and the South Koreans left here in Dandong are mostly contractors for Chinese firms,” Choi said.

After the attack on the warship Cheonan in March 2010, business ties between South and North Korea have run dry due to sanctions ordered by Seoul the following May.

“I invested millions of dollars into developing the underground natural resources in North Korea before last May,” said Park, 56, who was working from Hunchun in northeast China. “Now that the South Korean government has banned all North Korean goods from entering the South, I’m about to lose all my money.”

Chinese investors – including ethnic Koreans living in China – are grabbing the business opportunities forfeited by the Southerners.

“I run short of stock even if I charge 10 renminbi [$1.54] for an abalone I used to sell at 5 renminbi,” said Han, 70, an ethnic Korean in China who sells abalones caught in North Korea. The trade was formerly done by South Koreans.

“Doing business with Chinese customers is much better because I can earn more and in cash, too,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dong-a Ilbo reports on a new program allowing PRC nationals to drive into the Naso’n zone in the country’s northeast:

Chinese nationals can start traveling Thursday to Rason, a free trade zone in North Korea`s northeastern region, with their own cars for three days.

This is in line with the development plan linking the Chinese cities of Changchun, Jilin and Tumen that the Chinese government is promoting, China’s Xinhua News Agency said Friday.

For starters, the service launched by CYTS Tours will begin with fewer than 30 cars. Travel costs will be 1,450 yuan (224 U.S. dollars) per person, including lodging and eating. Whether anyone has applied remains unknown, however.

People who will start from Changchun Thursday will drive 500 kilometers to Hunchun in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and then enter North Korea through the maritime customs at Quanhe. After crossing the Tumen River, they will go through immigration procedures at the customs office in the North Korean village of Wonjeong-ri and then go to Rason through a Hunchun-Rason road under construction.

The travelers will tour the port of Rajin and then tour Rajin Bay by boat. They will watch a children’s show and visit Sea Village and Wang Hai Guo, where the late founder of North Korea Kim Il Sung visited.

A source at CYTS Tours said, “The product was designed as a part of the (Chinese) government’s travel development plan for Changchun, Jilin and Tumen.”

Jang Song Taek to Visit PRC this Weekend?

Chang So'ng-t'aek (Jang Song Taek)

Chang So’ng-t’aek (Jang Song Taek) will reportedly visit cities in and around Jilin Province, PRC, on Saturday [21 May].  If this trip occurs, it would be Chang’s first reported trip to the PRC since Kim Cho’ng-il’s visit in August 2010.  DPRK Premier Choe Yong-rim and CC KWP Secretary Choe T’ae-pok (Choe Tae Bok) visited northeastern China during 2010.  Yonhap reports:

Meanwhile, Kim’s brother-in-law, Jang Song-thaek, reportedly plans to visit China’s northeastern areas to discuss economic cooperation with China, the North’s key ally and main benefactor.

Jang, vice chairman of the North’s powerful National Defense Commission, plans to visit China on Saturday, according to sources in Dandong and Changchun, major cities in northeastern China.