NDC Statement Says “Should Not to Expect Any Change from the DPRK”

On 30 December 2011, DPRK media reported that postage stamps memorializing KJI have been released. This one depicts Kim Jong Un and Kim Jong Il visiting Kaeso'n Youth Fun Fair (amusement park) on 4 December 2011 (Photo: KCNA)

The DPRK government returned to work on 30 December (Friday), after the country finished a 10-day mourning period and funeral ceremonies for Kim Jong Il.  The government’s supreme policymaking organization, the National Defense Commission (formerly chaired by KJI), issued a statement thanking those who sent condolences, berating the ROK and South Korean officials and indicating, “the army and people of the DPRK [will] win the final victory…closely rallied behind the dear respected Kim Jong Un.”  The NDC statement also reiterated previous rhetoric from May 2011 that the country “will never deal” with the current leadership in ROK.  KCNA reports:

We feel grateful to the heads of state and party leaders, governments, organizations and personages of many countries of the world and compatriots at home and abroad for expressing profound condolences, sharing sorrow with us, and sending sincere sympathy and encouragement during the mourning period. We will never forget them.

When the whole nation is overcome with grief over the great loss, only the south Korean puppet group committed thrice-cursed crimes.

The DPRK National Defence Commission, above all, discloses before the world and the nation the truth about those crimes of the south Korean puppet group.

Though the country remains divided into the north and the south due to foreign forces, we are one nation.

The army and people of the DPRK, though suffering pain resulting from the division, have valued this homogenous nation more than anything else, always regarding as their faith the truth that the nation is above the ideology and system.

But this time the south Korean puppet group perpetrated such rash act as hurting the grief-stricken compatriots and rubbing salt into their wounds, determined to stop remaining as part of the nation of its own accord.

No sooner had the important report of the DPRK been released than the south Korean puppet group convened an emergency “state security meeting” and “state affairs meeting” and put even overseas missions on emergency alert duty, kicking off rackets to create the impression that a “contingency” was created as expected, and a “golden opportunity” presented itself to lead the north to “system change”.

The south Korean authorities put the three services of the puppet army on an emergency alert and ordered them to adopt combat posture, creating a war-like atmosphere on the ground and in the seas and air. They let over 30 right-wing conservative reactionary organizations flock to the forefront areas to scatter anti-DPRK leaflets whose content was hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK and inciting disturbance.

Traitor Lee Myung Bak spearheaded all these operations.

He sought to attain his foolish goal by taking the advantage of the mourning period, and if that fails, to lead the DPRK to “contingency” and “change of system”.

From the olden times, it was considered inhumane to raise one’s fist at the neighbor visited by misfortune and seek profits.

Even a foreign country which has no diplomatic relations with the DPRK stopped the planned military exercises being considerate of the sorrow of the army and people of the DPRK and set a mourning period to express condolences. In the light of this, the traitorous group’s bullying acts can not but be viewed as one defying human ethics and morality.

Lee group’s stepped-up show of enmity toward the DPRK culminated in its act of blocking south Koreans who wanted to visit Pyongyang to mourn the demise of leader Kim Jong Il.

South Koreans from all walks of life upon the news of Kim Jong Il’s demise that came like a bolt from the blue strongly called for expressing condolences and dispatching mourners group regardless of whether they belonged to progressive or conservative camps and ruling or opposition parties.

The traitorous group of Lee turned down all the demands, describing south Koreans’ request to express condolences as “sympathy to north’s citizens separated from its regime”. It banned the dispatch of mourners’ group talking about “chaos of south Korean society”. It foolishly tried to estrange the popular masses of the DPRK from its headquarters on one hand and totally ban the Pyongyang visits much hoped by broad south Koreans by taking the measures of “selected visits” and “restricting mourners groups” on the other hand.

Shared sorrow lessens while shared pleasure increases.

Expressing condolences and sending condolatory messages have been good manners and customs and ethical tradition peculiar to the Korean nation from the ancient times.

It is for this reason that we brand the evil act of the Lee group as treason bereft of elementary human reason and morality.

The group dared try to link the “final responsibility” for the warship “Cheonan” sinking and shelling on Yonphyong Island with the supreme leadership of the DPRK. They let loose such reckless remarks that the DPRK must present justifications for south Korea to move if it wants to have the “May 24 measure of the authorities” retracted and the north-south relations mended this time.

It is hideous crime that can never be pardoned in any case to dare hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK over its army’s self-defensive shell-firing on Yonphyong Island for coping with preemptive provocation in the wake of the “Cheonan” warship sinking case which is not related to the DPRK.

The group of traitors even hatched a plot to prompt the DPRK make a “change”, while talking about its non-existent “contingency” and “instability” of its dignified system and regime. This evildoing adds to the said crimes.

Upon joint authorization of the Party, state, army and people of the DPRK, the DPRK National Defence Commission clarifies the following principled stand on the group of traitors’ hideous crimes committed at the time of the great misfortune of the nation:

As already declared, the DPRK will have no dealings with the Lee Myung Bak group of traitors forever.

To keep company with them is a disgrace for the clear and honest-minded Korean nation as they are ignorant in politics, vulgar in morals and lack elementary human nature.

We will surely force the group of traitors to pay for its hideous crimes committed at the time of the great national misfortune.

The veritable sea of tears shed by the army and people of the DPRK will turn into that of retaliatory fire to burn all the group of traitors to the last one and their wailing into a roar of revenge to smash the stronghold of the puppet forces.

The conservative media of south Korea would also face due punishment as they are backing and following the group of traitors in its treacherous act against humanity through false report, fabrication, speculation and presumption, oblivious of their mission to be fair speaker for the public and pioneer of true public.

The south Korean puppets and world reactionaries should no longer make a fool of themselves in their bid to lead the DPRK to “contingency” and make its “system instable”, something unimaginable.

All the soldiers and people of the DPRK turned out to mourn the demise of leader Kim Jong Il since the announcement of his demise, an indication of the great unity of the party, army and people behind the headquarters of the revolution in single mind and invincibility of the Korean-style socialist system.

The army and people of the DPRK will unswervingly keep to the path of Juche indicated by Kim Jong Il true to the intention of President Kim Il Sung.

Taking this opportunity, we solemnly declare with confidence that the south Korean puppets and foolish politicians around the world should not expect any change from the DPRK.

The army and people of the DPRK will keep to the path of improving north-south relations and achieving peace and prosperity.

Mended north-south relations we want are not improvement based on “high-handedness” and “flexibility” as touted by Lee Myung Bak group of traitors or on crafty gimmick of those rhetorics.

The DPRK wants to improve relations with the south and bring peace and prosperity through the nationwide drive to implement the historic June 15 joint declaration and the October 4 declaration under the banner of independence, peace and reunification.

The world will see how the army and people of the DPRK win the final victory after turning their sorrow and tears into strength and courage, closely rallied behind the dear respected Kim Jong Un.

Meanwhile, Kim Jong Il posthumously received, once again, the DPRK’s highest state honor and declared “Hero of the Republic.”  Xinhua English reports:

The title of “Hero of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)” was awarded to late leader Kim Jong Il, the official KCNA announced Friday, citing a decree by the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly on Dec. 19.

Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), chairman of the National Defense Commission of the DPRK and supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army, “performed undying revolutionary feats for the country and its people, the times and history,” said the decree.

“He developed in depth the Juche idea, the Songun idea founded by President Kim Il Sung,” and developed the WPK, army and state “shining with his immortal name and placed the country’s dignity and power onto the highest level,” said the KCNA, citing the decree.

True to the president’s last instructions for national reunification, the decree said that Kim Jong Il led all his countryfellows on the road of independence and great national unity and ushered in the June 15 era of reunification.

He contributed greatly to “achieving the victory of the socialist cause, world peace and stability, friendship and solidarity among peoples under the uplifted banner of independence against imperialism.”

Business at shops near the North Korean Embassy in Beijing picks up on Dec. 30, 2011, as North Korean officials and residents returned to Beijing from their home country after the Dec. 19-29 mourning period for late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. (Photo: Yonhap)

Kim Jong Il Conducts KPA Field Inspections After “Sea of Fire” Statement

Kim Jong Il (6th L) stands for a commemorative photo following his inspection of KPA large combined Unit #233. (KCNA-Yonhap)

A view of Kaemori, South Hwanghae Province (Photo: Google image)

Kim Jong Il traveled to South Hwanghae Province and inspected two Korean People’s Army [KPA] units, one day after the KPA Supreme Command issued a report that threatened “a sea of fire” in the south.  DPRK media reported on 26 November that he inspected KPA Air Force (KPAF) Unit #1016 and KPA large combined unit (taeyonhap pudae) #233, described by KCNA as being in “the western sector of the front.”  KCNA reports:

He expressed great satisfaction over the fact that the commanding officers and servicepersons of the unit have turned all operational theatres into impregnable fortresses to devotedly protect the Party, the revolution, the country and its people and firmly guarantee the great revolutionary surge with a powerful military force and are fully prepared to beat back any enemy’s surprise invasion in good time.

He praised them for standing firm guard over the forefront of the country with strong fighting spirit and faith in sure victory to wipe out all enemies on this land with just retaliatory blows and get the Korean people’s long-pent up grudge settled without fail if they disturb the DPRK’s legitimate exercise of sovereignty through reckless saber-rattling.

He expressed expectation and conviction that all servicepersons of the unit would boost its combat capability in every way to cope with the enemies’ provocations and consolidate all its defense theatres as firm as a rock, thus performing laudable military feats on the sacred road of defending the country.

This photo shows a graveyard (circled in red) in the North Korean border county of Kangnyong in South Hwanghae Province. The photo was taken from an observatory on South Korea's western border island of Yeonpyeong on Nov. 21, 2011, the first anniversary of North Korea's indiscriminate bombardment on the island. Scores of tombs were built recently in the graveyards, sparking off assumptions that they might be coastal positions. (Yonhap)

Kim Jong Il visits a stone factory in an image broadcast on KCTV 26 November. Also seen in attendance are Kim Jong Un (R) and Gen. Hyon Chol Hae (2nd R) (Photo: KCNA-Yonhap)

Kim Jong Il’s visit to the area followed reports that the KPA added or reinforced a number of coastal artillery positions.  According to ROK media, some coastal artillery guns may have been placed and concealed in a cemetery in Kangryong County.  Incidentally, Kim Jong Il was reported to have visited a stone factory on 25 November.  During his KPA inspections KJI was reported to be accompanied by Pak Jae Gyong, Kim Won Hong, Jang Song Taek, Kim Jong Un, Ri Yong Ho, Hyon Chol Hae and Kim Kyong Ok.  Also reported to be in attendance were “staff members of the KPA Supreme Command.”    On 24 November (Thursday) the KPA Supreme Command published a report denouncing ROK military exercises held in the West Sea:

The military warmongers dared to announce that the rehearsal is aimed to remind the DPRK of victims and lesson from the Yonphyong Island Shelling and review their “perfect readiness for counteraction.”

It is also intended to show their will to decisively punish “not only the base of provocation but also commanding posts of all echelons including supporters in the north” with the combined forces of three services in case the DPRK starts a military action, they asserted.

As for last year’s Yonphyong Island shelling, it was a legitimate self-defensive step against the provocateurs who dared to make a clumsy fire on the inviolable territorial waters of the DPRK despite its army’s advance warning.

This being a hard reality, they launched the anti-DPRK war rehearsal far from drawing due lesson on the first anniversary of the shelling. It is little short of a new political and military provocation to the army and people of the DPRK.

Such disgusting behavior by the military warmongers, who go recklessly without knowing about the present trend of situation and their domestic condition, will arouse criticism and ridicules from among the people at home and abroad.

They should not forget the lesson taught by the Yonphyong Island Shelling one year ago.

They should be mindful that If they dare to impair the dignity of the DPRK again and fire one bullet or shell toward its inviolable territorial waters, sky and land, the deluge of fire on Yonphyong Island will lead to that in Chongwadae and the sea of fire in Chongwadae to the deluge of fire sweeping away the stronghold of the group of traitors.

The DPRK revolutionary armed forces are in full readiness to go into a decisive battle to counter any military provocation.

This report was one of several missives issued by the DPRK during the week that marked one year since the 23 November 2010 Yo’np’yo’ng Island artillery shelling incident which resulted in the death of two ROK Marines and two civilians.  According to Yonhap, the first mention of the anniversary appeared in a 22 November essay on Urminjjokkiri which said West Sea exercises were “clearly an attempt to create another military provocation like the Yeonpyong-do incident, and ultimately carry out an all-out attack on the North.”  This essay was similar to information bulletin #987 released by the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea [CPRK]:

They are seriously mistaken if they think they will go scot-free after they commit provocation in the future, too.

The puppet group is kicking off the sinister confrontation racket, instead of drawing due lesson from last year’s Yonphyong Island shelling case. Such action will bring itself to shame and reveal its colors as a war hawk more glaringly.

The reality clearly shows that “flexibility of the policy toward the north” much touted by the group is no more than wordplay to deceive the public opinion.

The puppet group has only the extreme hostility toward fellow countrymen and sinister intention to go for confrontation and war with the DPRK.

Its reckless confrontation moves are a last-ditch effort to arrest the daily growing demand of the South Korean people for switchover in the policy toward the north, quell the desire for reunification through alliance with the north and free itself from the wretched plight into which it has been driven at home and abroad due to its serious ruling crisis.

The army and people of the DPRK are now in full readiness to go into action and annihilate the enemy, with surging indignation at the evermore pronounced anti-DPRK smear campaign and war moves of the puppet group.

ROK officials did not respond to the DPRK’s statements.  Yonhap reports:

“We don’t find it worth responding to North Korean rhetoric that flies in the face of common sense,” a military official said on the condition of anonymity. “If North Korea wants to engage in dialogue, it should stop clinging to irrational logic and immediately apologize for its torpedoing of the Cheonan warship and its shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.”

The official was referring to two deadly armed provocations by North Korea last year, which killed 50 South Koreans, mostly soldiers.

Another official at the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, also made a similar comment on the North’s latest harsh rhetoric.

On Thursday, the North’s military threatened to turn Cheong Wa Dae, South Korea’s presidential office, into “a sea of fire.” It came a day after South Korea held military exercises in the Yellow Sea to mark the first anniversary of the Yeonpyeong shelling.

The South Korean official said these exercises only strengthened the military’s defense posture and its determination to strike back against future North Korean provocations.

“If North Korea provokes again, our forces will thoroughly punish them and make them regret their action,” the official said.

Sources said North Korea put its forces on heightened alert as South Korea staged exercises in the Yellow Sea.

DPRK Reiterates Request for Cancelation of Ulchi Freedom Guardian

While Koreans commemorated Liberation Day (15 August), DPRK media outlets have requested the cancelation of the joint US-ROK Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercises which are scheduled to begin on 16 August (Tuesday).  An essay in Rodong Sinmun described UFG “extremely provocative northward aggression exercise” and that “the situation on the Korean peninsula is at the crossroads of choice between dialogue and the intensification of confrontation.”  Yonhap reports:

North Korea on Saturday repeated its call for the cancellation of an upcoming South Korea-U.S. military drill, saying Seoul was deliberately trying to ruin the atmosphere of dialogue on the Korean Peninsula “in collusion with outside forces.”

South Korea and the U.S. plan to hold their annual joint military exercises, dubbed Ulchi Freedom Guardian, in the Yellow Sea off the west coast of Korea. The South’s defense ministry said the 11-day drills, which kick off Tuesday, will simulate destroying weapons of mass destruction.

Pyongyang’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said that the drills “prove that those forces do not want to see detente and peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

“The joint military exercises against the North … would further aggravate the already strained situation on the peninsula and increase the danger of a nuclear war,” a bylined article said.

Earlier this week, the North’s military delegation to the border village of Panmunjom told South Korean and U.S. authorities to cancel the planned exercises, accusing the two allies of hampering the atmosphere of dialogue and escalating tension.

South Korean forces have been on high alert in the area since a North Korean artillery attack killed four people, including two Marines, in November on Yeonpyeong Island near the tense sea border.

KJI Meets with PRC Delegation

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang (L, front), also head of a Chinese delegation to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance Between China and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) talks with Kim Jong Il (R, front), top leader of the DPRK during a banquet, in Pyongyang, DPRK, July 12, 2011. (Xinhua/Zhang Li)

Fresh from his trip to the Central Zoo, Kim Jong Il met with the PRC delegation, head by Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang.  KCNA reported:

Present there were Vice-Chairmen of the Central Military Commission of the WPK Kim Jong Un and Ri Yong Ho, Member of the Political Bureau and Secretary of the WPK C.C. Choe Thae Bok, Member of the Political Bureau of the WPK C.C. and Vice-Premier of the Cabinet Kang Sok Ju, Alternate Member of the Political Bureau of the WPK C.C. and Vice-Chairman of the NDC Jang Song Thaek, Alternate Members of the Political Bureau and Secretaries of the WPK C.C., Kim Yong Il and Kim Yang Gon, First Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Kye-kwan and Chairman of the Joint Venture and Investment Committee Ri Su Yong.

The heads of the delegations presented gifts to Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un.

On the occasion Zhang Dejiang said it was a great event in the history of the bilateral relations that Premier Zhou Enlai and President Kim Il Sung signed the treaty on July 11, 1961 50 years ago.

He paid highest tribute to Kim Jong Il who has made an undying contribution to steadily boosting the Sino-DPRK friendly and cooperative relations.

The Chinese party and government will steadfastly carry forward the baton of the traditional and special Sino-DPRK friendship and honestly implement the wide-ranging agreements reached between the top leaders of the two countries, he noted.

Welcoming the DPRK visit of the Chinese friendship delegations, Kim Jong Il said over the past half a century since the treaty was concluded the two parties and the two governments have supported and closely cooperated with each other in political, military, economic, cultural and other fields in the spirit of the treaty and powerfully demonstrated before the world the tremendous vitality of the DPRK-China friendship which remains unchanged no matter how much water flow under the bridge and no matter how frequently a generation is replaced by another.
Kim Jong Il hosted a dinner for the guests.

Present there on invitation were Zhang Dejiang, member of the Political Bureau of the C.C., the Communist Party of China and vice-premier of the State Council, Li Shenglin, minister of Transport, Wang Yulin, governor of the Jilin Provincial People’s Government, Liu Hongcai, Chinese ambassador to the DPRK, the deputy secretary-general of the State Council, Chen Jian, vice-minister of Commerce, the assistant to the Foreign Minister, Yang Yanyi, assistant to the head of the International Liaison Department of the CPC C.C., Wu Donghe, chairman of the China-Korea Friendship Association, and Jing Dunquan, vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

Kim Jong Il (R, front), top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), shakes hands with Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang (L, front), also head of a Chinese delegation to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance Between China and the DPRK in Pyongyang, DPRK, on July 12, 2011. (Xinhua/Zhang Li)

Xinhua reported:

Top leader Kim Jong Il of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and visiting Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang pledged here Tuesday to further strengthen the friendly relations between the two neighboring nations.

During a meeting with Kim, Zhang stressed that on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance Between China and the DPRK, his visit was aimed at conveying the friendly sentiment of the Chinese people to their DPRK counterparts and pushing forward the bilateral friendly and cooperative relationship.

Citing Kim’s three trips to China since early last year, Zhang said that the visits and Kim’s meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao infused strong power into the development of the bilateral relations.

Beijing is ready to work with Pyongyang to constantly deepen their communications and cooperation in various fields and further boost the DPRK-China friendship, said the Chinese vice premier, who arrived here Sunday with a delegation.

While extending his welcome to the Chinese guests, Kim said that his recent visits to China were successful and that the DPRK and China should make concerted efforts to promote their traditional friendship.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (C, front row) poses with a Chinese Communist Party delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang in Pyongyang on July 12. Kim's son and heir apparent Jong-un (second from L, front row) was on hand. This year marks the 50th anniversary of a friendship and cooperation treaty between the two nations. (KCNA-Yonhap)

Zhang also met with SPA Presidium President Kim Yong Nam (Kim Yo’ng-nam) during his visit to the country.  Xinhua reported:

China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday pledged to continue to promote bilateral ties and friendship.

The China-DPRK friendship has been greatly enhanced over recent years thanks to the care and attention of top leaders from both nations as well as the joint efforts of both sides, said visiting Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang.

Heading a Chinese delegation, Zhang arrived here Sunday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance Between China and the DPRK.

By commemorating the 50th anniversary of the treaty, China and the DPRK aim to further consolidate their friendship so as to benefit the two peoples and make greater contributions to regional peace and development, Zhang said while meeting with Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People’s Assembly, at Mansudae Assembly Hall.

China is willing to maintain close communications and coordination with the DPRK to safeguard the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, Zhang said.

China also sincerely wished that the DPRK could make greater achievements in its national development, Zhang said.

Kim said the visit by Zhang and the Chinese delegation showed that the Chinese government has attached great importance to the development of DPRK-China ties.

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang (L, Front), also head of a Chinese delegation to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance Between China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), meets with Kim Yong Nam (R, Front), president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, at Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang, DPRK, July 12, 2011. (Xinhua/Zhang Li)

KCNA reported:

Kim Yong Nam, member of Presidium of the Political Bureau of the C.C. of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK, met with the Chinese friendship delegation led by Zhang Dejiang, member of the Political Bureau of the C.C. of the Communist Party of China and vice-premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, which paid a courtesy call on him at the Mansudae Assembly Hall Tuesday and had a friendly talk with it.

Zhang said Premier Zhou Enlai and President Kim Il Sung signed the Sino-DPRK treaty of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance, laying a solid foundation for the steady development of the Sino-DPRK friendship.

He reiterated his will to make positive efforts for the development of the Sino-DPRK relations, a legacy bequeathed by the revolutionaries of the elder generations of the two countries and the common treasure.

He hoped that the Korean people would register great successes in the building of a thriving country on the occasion of the centenary of birth of President Kim Il Sung under the leadership of the WPK headed by General Secretary Kim Jong Il.

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang (L, Front), also head of a Chinese delegation to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance Between China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), meets with Kim Yong Nam (R, Front), president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, at Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang, DPRK, July 12, 2011. (Xinhua/Zhang Li)

On July 12 (Tuesday), Zhang and the delegation also visited Kim Il-so’ng University’s E-Library, the Taedonggang Combined Fruit Farm and other sites during their stay.  KCNA reported:

The Chinese friendship delegation led by Zhang Dejiang, member of the Political Bureau of the C.C., the Communist Party of China and vice-premier of the State Council, visited the Taedonggang Combined Fruit Farm Tuesday.
Being briefed on the farm the guests toured different places of the farm.

On the same day, the delegation toured the E-Library and the Indoor Swimming Pool at Kim Il Sung University.

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang (L) and Choe Tae Bok, Chairman of supreme people's assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) attend a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the signing of the DPRK-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Pyongyang, capital of DPRK on July 11, 2011. (Xinhua/Zhang Li)

The Korean Workers’ Party hosted a banquet for the 50th anniversary of the DPRK-China Treaty(…) at the People’s Palace of Culture.  Xinhua reported:

Present at the banquet, held at People’s Palace of Culture of Pyongyang by DPRK-China Friendship Association, were Choe Thae Bok, chairman of DPRK’s Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) and Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), Deputy Premier Ro Du Chol and Chairperson of the Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries Kim Jong Suk.

In his speech, Zhang said that developing China-DPRK friendship and cooperation is in the fundamental interests of the two peoples.

China-DPRK friendship has stood severe tests of the volatile international situation, demonstrating its enormous vitality, he said.

China is ready to work with the DPRK to implement the important consensus reached by leaders of the two countries and elevate bilateral ties to a higher level, said Zhang.

Kim Jong Suk, for her part, said that it is the DPRK’s consistent policy to carry on the traditional DPRK-China friendship from generation to generation.

Extending her congratulations on the significant achievements since the founding of the Communist Party of China 90 years ago, Kim wished China greater success in the course of thoroughly applying the Scientific Outlook on Development and building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

In Beijing on Tuesday, DPRK Minister of Public Health and Chairman of the CC Korea-China Friendship Association, Choe Chang Sik met with Chen Zongxing.  Xinhua reports:

Chen Zongxing, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, met here Tuesday with Choe Chang Sik, chairman of the Central Committee of the Korea-China Friendship Association.

Choe Chang Sik, also minister of public health of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), is here as guest of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC).

Yang Hyong-sop (front), a vice president of the Presidium of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly, arrives at the airport in Beijing on July 12 prior to his flight back home. A North Korean delegation, led by Yang, visited China for four days to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the North Korea-China treaty of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance. (Yonhap)

Also on Tuesday, Yang Hyong Sop (Yang Hyo’ng-sop) and the DPRK’s friendship delegation returned from their brief sojourn to China.  KCNA:

The DPRK friendship delegation led by Yang Hyong Sop, vice-president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, returned home on Tuesday after visiting China at the invitation of its government to attend the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the DPRK-China treaty of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance.

Busy Days in Internal Security

Kim Jong Il on a May 2009 inspection tour of a general officers' school of the Ministry of State Scurity

These are interesting times for the country’s internal security apparatus.  Enforcement initiatives and tightening of social and population controls finds the Military Security Command riding shotgun, while the Ministry of State Security and Ministry of People’s Security sit in the backseat.  The Minister of People’s Security was replaced earlier this year with a military planning specialist and KJI loyalist, although it is not clear if Chu Sang-song (Ju Sang Song) was on the take (i.e. bribes) or lacked vigilance in dealing with unruly university students.

At State Security, there are rumors that vice minister and chief of the 2nd Bureau, Ryu Kyo’ng was dismissed and executed early this year.  In September 2010 Ryu was promoted to Colonel General (Sangjang) and elected an alternate (candidate) member of the Party Central Committee.   Folded into Ryu’s dismissal was the removal of dozens of other MSS personnel.  During January and February of this year, several sources claimed that MSS Senior Vice Minister, U To’ng-ch’uk, giddily presided over a purge in the ministry. Chosun Ilbo reports:

The source in North Korea said Ryu Kyong was summoned by Kim Jong-il in early January and on his way to Kim’s residence, was arrested by members of the General Guard Bureau. He was interrogated and secretly executed.

A South Korean government official backed the story. “Ryu has disappeared from public view since early this year. It seems he was either purged or sent to the provinces. We’re trying to find out if he was executed,” he said. The North Korean source said Ryu was suspected of being a double agent.

A North Korean defector said Ryu held real power in the spy agency and had been on a roll. Last September when Kim Jong-il’s third son and heir Jong-un was promoted to four-star general, Ryu was also promoted from lieutenant general to colonel general. He reportedly wielded more power than Gen. U Dong-chuk, his ostensible superior, because of Kim Jong-il’s confidence in him.

But he is believed to have been eliminated by the Kims and the leader’s brother-in-law Jang Song-taek, seen as the grey eminence in the North, because he was getting too powerful.

The source in North Korea said, “I heard that Kim Jong-un was at one time very keen on his work in the security department but didn’t have much to do because almost everything was taken care of by Ryu Kyong and his cadres.”

Jang, who is in charge of the security department and the Ministry of Public Security, reportedly had an uneasy relationship with Ryu. About 100 security department officials, including counterespionage bureau chief Kim Yong-sik, who were regarded as Ryu’s cadres, were also kicked out, the source added.

According to another CI report, Ryu managed the March 2009 capture of US-based Current TV journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, at the DPRK-PRC border.  When former US President Bill Clinton visited the country in August 2009 to secure Ling and Lee’s release, DPRK media reported that U To’ng-ch’uk attended the dinner party hosted by Kim Cho’ng-il.

He then used his overseas operatives to bribe an ethnic Korean guide in China to lead the two women into the hands of their abductors. The guide took Ling and Lee to a point on the banks of the Duman (or Tumen) River, where they were dragged across the border into North Korea.

The abduction, which occurred just after U.S. President Barack Obama took office, prompted the White House to dispatch former U.S. President Bill Clinton to Pyongyang in August of that year. It also served as a propaganda coup for Pyongyang, which boasted that a former U.S. leader had to “bow before General Kim Jong-il and beg for forgiveness.” By successfully carrying out the mission, Ryu was subsequently hailed as a national hero.

Teams of overseas operatives, many of which had been in place for years, were mobilized in September of 2002 following the visit to North Korea by former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Many had been tasked with missions aimed at creating favorable diplomatic conditions for the summit. Boosted by the success of the summit, the State Security Department expanded the missions of its overseas operatives until they had created a vast intelligence network in China.

South Korean intelligence officials are now trying to ascertain why Ryu, one of Kim Jong-il’s closest and most trusted aides, ended up being purged, especially in light of his achievements in prompting former and incumbent U.S. and Japanese leaders to visit North Korea.

Due to the nature of Ryu Kyo’ng’s work, Asahi Shimbun wonders if Ryu was a “Mr. X” who arranged a meeting between KJI and former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in September 2002:

Some South Korean government officials said the senior North Korean official was probably Ryu Kyong, deputy director of the State Security Department.

Ryu was reportedly promoted to colonel general last September, but South Korean government officials have lost track of his status since early this year.

South Korea hopes it will be able to better forecast changes in Pyongyang’s policy toward Tokyo and Washington by gathering information on Ryu, who was responsible for relations with the two countries.

Mr. X closely coordinated with Hitoshi Tanaka, then director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, from autumn 2001 to organize the summit between then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang in September 2002.

He identified himself as Kim Chol and a member of North Korea’s National Defense Commission.

The Foreign Ministry could not find such a person in its list of North Korean officials but concluded that Mr. X was directly connected to Kim Jong Il.

Then again Ryu may have found trouble with what Daily NK reports to be a generational change within the internal security apparatus:

One such source from North Pyongan Province explained on Sunday, “NSA and PSM cadres are being rapidly changed for younger men, who are now playing a pivotal role. There are now two or three men in their late 20s and early 30s in the case of an NSA office, and among the ten men in a PSM office, five or six are in their 30s.”

“The change to younger agents began last year, making men in their mid-40s who should be at peak capacity start looking over their shoulder,” the source added.

A source from Yangkang Province concurred, adding, “Just now in the local NSA, prosecutors’ office and PSM, early- to mid-30s people have been stationed in almost all posts. These early- and mid-30s people are even taking places as high as vice director of the city or county NSA.”

The NSA and PSM represent the domestic force behind the Kim dictatorship, the tools of both policing and intelligence functions. As such, experts assert that if people loyal to the Kim Jong Il system are being replaced, that is another telling sign that North Korea is edging towards a system led by successor Kim Jong Eun.

During the last few weeks a variety of editorials and statements in KCNA and other DPRK media have applied the term hooligan to the current ROK leadership.  However, if this Yonhap excerpt is accurate, some in the DPRK’s security community seem to suspect the hooligans may be closer to home.  Via Korea Herald:

North Korea has recently created a special police task force and bought large amounts of anti-riot gear from China in an apparent attempt to cope with any possible riots in the North, a source said Tuesday.

The communist North purchased tear gas, helmets and shields through Chinese merchants in China’s northeastern city of Shenyang in recent months, the source said.

The North has also considered buying flak jackets, protective clothing and other equipment that could be used against rioters, the source said.

There have been accounts of crowd-based rumbles in the country before, including soccer-type riots, tolerated by local authorities to relieve internal pressure.  If Daily NK‘s sources are correct, internal security officials may not be handing out beatdowns quite yet:

To a man, those The Daily NK talked to about the report, including individuals with experience working for special military units, the National Security Agency and People’s Safety Agency, expressed doubts about the report that North Korea had purchased the equipment to prepare for potential public disorder.

One defector who once worked for a special unit under the People’s Safety Ministry told the Daily NK, “The idea that North Korea bought equipment like tear gas for breaking up demonstrations from China is nonsense. It is premature to suggest that there are riots in North Korea, and even if a riot were to break out, the state would simply break it up with live ammunition.”

“It is also illogical to say that a state could buy those items from individual traders,” the defector continued. “It’s military equipment; how could a private individual even get hold of it?”

Another defector, a former NSA agent who arrived in the South just this year, agreed, saying, “The People’s Safety Ministry, the equivalent of South Korea’s police, is known as the ‘internal military’,” and adding, “If a riot breaks out, obviously the guards would just shoot and kill the participants indiscriminately; they would not have the patience to warn them with tear gas.”

A former member of North Korea’s Special Forces asserted that the Chosun People’s Army operates one Special Forces unit of 1200 guards containing a battalion of 350 trained to suppress public disturbances. In effect, this means that North Korea will insert the military into any protests or riots directly.

The defector explained, “This unit solely trains for problems within the country. If a demonstration breaks out, NSA agents would also be mobilized, but first and foremost, soldiers would be armed to break up the crowd.”

NDC Statement Pronounces DPRK “Will Never Deal With” Lee Myung-bak

The National Defense Commission issued a statement announcing that “the DPRK will launch a nationwide offensive  to put an end to the moves of the Lee group to escalate confrontation with the DPRK.”  The NDC threatened to “take physical action without any notice at any time” against ROK-based “psychological warfare.”  It also announced the termination of an inter-Korean military ‘phone line in the East Sea (Sea of Japan), and the closure of an office at Mt. Kumgang.  JoongAng Ilbo reports:

In a statement reported by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, the National Defense Commission, chaired by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, said it will cut military communication lines along the East Sea coast and shut down a liaison office on Mount Kumgang.

It said these are the first steps and more will follow.

“We will enter a full-scale offensive designed to put to an end the maneuvers by the traitor Lee Myung-bak and its thuggish clan to confront the Republic [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea],” the NDC spokesman said in a statement, referring to the South Korean president.

“The full-scale offensive by our military and the people will be merciless,” the statement said.

The verbal threats come as the two Koreas remain at odds over the two provocations directed at the South last year – the sinking of the warship Cheonan, for which the North denies any involvement, and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island. Seoul has refused to put the events behind it before an acknowledgement or apology from the North.

Late last month, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visited South Korea after a trip to Pyongyang with a message from Kim that he was willing to have an inter-Korean summit.

Seoul regards it as a showy gesture lacking sincerity and is calling for the North to respond to its call for inter-Korean talks that it made in January through direct and official diplomatic channels.

The remarks yesterday are also being looked at to determine whether they hint at a downshift in the North’s will to economically engage the South following apparent growing economic ties with China.

Last Friday, Kim Jong-il finished a trip to China, the third in a year, which was observed by some to have taken economic ties between the two communist allies to a closer level.

In the statement, the NDC also reiterated its warning against the psychological warfare tactics of the South, including border-crossing anti-regime leaflets and reconfirmed its threat of sudden strikes from where the leaflets are sent.

Yonhap reports:

North Korea threatened Monday that it will no longer engage with South Korea and will retaliate against Seoul for anti-Pyongyang “psychological warfare.”

“The army and people of the (North) will never deal with traitor Lee Myung-bak and his clan,” the North’s powerful National Defense Commission said in a statement, referring to the South Korean president by name.

The commission headed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il also renewed a warning that the North “will take physical action without any notice any time against any target to cope with the anti-(North Korea) psychological warfare.”

In April, North Korea threatened to launch “unpredictable and merciless” fire against South Korea over anti-Pyongyang leaflets.

South Korean activists and defectors, however, have continued to send hundreds of thousands of leaflets calling for a popular revolt to topple Kim, which the North sees as psychological warfare against it.

The latest harsh rhetoric came just days after Kim called for the easing of tensions on the Korean Peninsula during his summit talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing.

Kim has said his country sincerely hopes for improved relations with South Korea, according to China’s official Xinhua news agency.

Xinhua reported:

According to a statement issued by the DPRK’s National Defence Commission, two more steps would be taken in this regard.

“The DPRK will launch a nationwide offensive to put an end to the moves of the Lee group to escalate the confrontation with the DPRK,” the statement said.

The Korean People’s Army would “cut off the north-south military communication in the area along the east coast” and “close the communication liaison office in Mt. Kumgang area,” the statement announced.

“As already warned by the DPRK, it will take a physical action without any notice any time against any target to cope with the anti-DPRK psychological warfare,” it added.

The statement said Lee’s government is piling up false accusations against the DPRK’s “revolution” and “socialist system,” “undermining its national reconciliation and unity” and “laying a hurdle in the way of peace and prosperity.”

It said South Korea is trying to stop the DPRK’s legitimate measures for self-defense and driving the inter-Korean relations to “uncontrollable catastrophe.”

Lee Myung-bak’s government has been smearing the DPRK’s efforts to achieve cooperation, peace and reunification through dialogue as “delaying tactics,” the statement said.

The inter-Korean relations were further soured in March last year by the sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan. South Korea insists the warship was sunk by the DPRK’s torpedo, an accusation the DPRK denies.

The two countries also exchanged fire off Yeonpyeong Island last November, leaving four South Koreans dead and prompting Seoul to begin to build up its forces on five front-line islands in the Yellow Sea.

A satellite image which is appended to the May 2011 Report of the Panel of Experts Established Pursuant to Resolution 1874 (UN Department of Field Services Cartographic Section via Hankyoreh)

The May 2011 report by the UNSC Panel of Experts assesses that the DPRK’s UEP has a military use.  Via Hankyoreh (which includes this link to the report):

In the report, the panel said it “believes both that, despite the assertions of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the contrary, its long pursuit of a uranium enrichment programme was primarily for military purposes, and that the risk that the uranium enrichment workshop could easily be converted for military purposes should be underlined.”

“The Panel of Experts strongly believes that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea should be compelled to abandon its uranium enrichment programme and that all aspects of the programme should then be placed under international monitoring, and suggests steps towards this in its recommendations,” it added.

The report includes satellite pictures of North Korea’s Yongbyon Nuclear Complex Fuel Fabrication Complex and Uranium Enrichment Workshop.

According to Yonhap News, however, the report was not officially adopted by UN Security Council as China refused to do so saying that the North’s nuclear issue should be discussed at the six-party talks.

Meanwhile Chosun Ilbo  reports on  viewing a fence in Dandong and a 28 May ceremony that did not happen:

A trip down the highway across the Apnok (or Yalu) River in China’s Dandong, Liaoning Province leads to a large field surrounded by double barbed-wire fences. Without the fences it would not stand out, but this is Hwanggumpyong, which has been at the center of recent cracks in Sino-North Korean relations.

The field, part of the breadbasket of North Korea’s Sinuiju region, straddles the North Korea-China border. There have been rumors since last year that Pyongyang had signed a development pact and would lease it to China for 50 years for development of an industrial park.

There has been no official comment from China, but a ground-breaking ceremony for the development scheduled for Saturday has been cancelled, apparently because China had second thoughts. “Since last year, I’ve had business officials from other regions like Tianjin and Qingdao, asking me whether there’s any vacant office spaces for rent,” said a business owner in Dandong.

But people in Dandong have not lost all hope of potential development of the area. One Chinese businessman who has traded with North Korea since the 1990s, said, “Business projects with North Korea usually take a long time to materialize, and talk of developing Hwanggumpyong and Wihwa islands have been around for a long time, so I feel they will happen someday.”

Other major projects are already under way in Dandong. The Chinese city plans to build a new city in the Langtou area to house 200,000 people by 2020. A bank building and high-rise apartments have already sprung up in the area, which was a barren tract of land just three years ago. And a new bridge is being built linking Langtou with the North Korean border town of Ryongchon across the Apnok River.