Kim Jong Un looks at bear cubs during a tour of Pyongyang Central Zoo. Among those attendance, standing behind him are: Han Kwang Sang (L), Kim Yang Gon (2nd L) and Jon Il Chun (5th L) (Photo: Rodong Sinmun)
DPRK state media reported on 27 May (Sunday) that Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n) visited the Pyongyang Central Zoo. He was accompanied by National Defense Commission Vice Chairman and KWP Party Administration Department Director, Jang Song Taek, and KWP Secretary and Director of the United Front Department Kim Yang Gon, as well KWP Deputy (vice) Department Directors Han Kwang Sang, Ri Jae Il, Hwang Pyong So, Pak Chun Hong, Ma Wo’n-ch’un and Cho’n Il-ch’un. KCNA reports:
Kim Jong Un first went round the monument erected to convey the undying leadership exploits of the three commanders of Mt. Paektu down through generations.
He recollected with deep emotion the glorious course covered by the zoo, noting that it had the honor of receiving on-the-spot guidance of President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il dozens of times and has creditably fulfilled its mission as a place for joyful rest making visitors laugh and pleasing them and a center for education imbuing them with wide knowledge about animals over the last more than five decades since it was established.
Going round different places of the zoo, he learned in detail about the management and operation of it.
He dropped in at the aquarium to learn about its operation. He asked workers there if there is any problem arising in breeding fish, what measures are taken to provide food and water to it and what species of sea fish are raised.
He was satisfied to hear officials of the zoo say that thorough measures are taken to provide food and the completion of the Nampho-Pyongyang seawater pipe helped settle the issue of seawater, a difficulty in breeding sea water fishes.
He visited the pool for seals and the reptile house. What is important for sprucing up animal houses is to create friendly natural environment to help visitors see animals clearly and learn about their true habitation and provide them with sufficient living conditions, he said.
He went to the gift animal house to watch with keen attention rare animals including Indian constrictor, lemur and flying fox which Jonas Whalstram, director of Skansen Aquarium in Sweden, presented to leader Kim Jong Il.
He dropped in at a shed of wild animals. He met Kim Sun Ok, head of the wild animal work team who has worked at the zoo for 45 years, and Myong Su Il who has tended bears for nearly 30 years and appreciated their efforts.
He also moved to a veterinary hospital built on the initiative of Kim Jong Il. Kim Jong Un underlined the need to take efficient veterinary, anti-epizootic and treatment measures for animals.
He highly praised the officials and other employees of the zoo for having taken good care of animals and devoted their wisdom and efforts to pleasing visitors by successfully organizing their tour.
He put forth the tasks to be carried out to manage and operate the zoo.
It is necessary to spruce up the zoo and steadily improve its operation.
The zoo should increase the species of animals and bring more giraffes, zebras and other animals from foreign countries and more rare animals.
It is necessary to build a main building symbolic of the zoo at its entrance and modernize all animal sheds in line with the characteristic features of animals, while providing convenience to visitors.
The zoo should have peculiar outdoor and indoor resting places.
A work should be done to improve the greening of the zoo area as required by the new century.
It is necessary to take proper measures for supplying water needed for managing the zoo and tending the animals.
The zoo should set up a new guidepost to meet the need of the zoo.
Kim Jong Un expressed expectation and belief that the officials and other employees of the zoo would creditably fulfill their responsibility and mission as a servant of the people.
A delegation of the Ministry of People’s Security [MPS] visited China from 26 April to 1 May (Tuesday). The delegation was led by Major General Ri Song Chol (Ri So’ng-ch’o'l), MPS councilor and director of the MPS Foreign Affairs Bureau. The primary reason for Ri’s visit was not clear and may have been arranged when Korean Workers’ Party [KWP] International Secretary Kim Yong Il visited Beijing late last month for a DPRK-PRC strategic dialogue.
On 27 April (Friday), Maj. Gen. Ri met with Chinese Vice Minister of Public Security Meng Hongwei. The two were last reported to have met in June 2011. According to Renmin Gongan Bao, Meng told Ri, “Since February 2011 when State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu visited the DPRK, China and the DPRK have further developed their cooperation in law enforcement and security thanks to the concerted efforts of both sides. It is hoped that the two sides would further implement the consensus on cooperation reached between the responsible officials of the law-enforcement departments of the two countries, continue strengthening high-level exchanges and work cooperation, and lead the friendly cooperation between the two sides to a pragmatic, mutual-beneficial, and win-win development.” Ri was described as “totally” agreeing with Meng’s remarks.
Ri’s visit to Beijing occurred on the same day two members of the Border Security Command were repatriated back to the DPRK, after escaping to China. Daily NKreported that after an alleged bureaucratic migration, two BSC service members shot and killed several members of their unit near Hyesan, Yanggang Province. The two guards escaped into China and were apprehended on 27 April.
Kim Jong Un watches a firearms demonstration during a tour of the KPA Military Science and Technology Exhibition. Also in this image are: VMar Kim Jong Gak (L), VMar Choe Ryong Hae (2nd L), VMar Hyon Chol Hae and Jang Song Taek (Photo: KCNA)
Kim Jong Un looks at a star-shaped stencil. Also seen in attendance is KWP Deputy Director Hwang Pyong So (6th L) (Photo: Rodong Sinmun)
DPRK state media reported on Friday (27 April) that Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n) and members of the central leadership visited the Korean People’s Army [KPA] 26th Military Science and Technology Exhibition. KCNA reports:
He was accompanied by Choe Ryong Hae, Ri Yong Ho, Kim Jong Gak, Jang Song Thaek, Kim Yong Chun, Hyon Chol Hae, Son Chol Ju, Pak Jae Gyong, Kim Yong Chol, Ri Jae Il, Kim Myong Guk, Yun Tong Hyon, Jon Chang Bok and Pak Jong Chon.
He first learned about the reconstruction of the exhibition on a modern basis.
He praised the soldier-builders for having splendidly reconstructed the exhibition by successfully building its exterior and interior to suit its characteristics as an exhibition of science and technology by their own efforts and with indigenous technology.
He expressed satisfaction over the fact that the successful reconstruction and modernization of the exhibition as required by the Songun era has created an important center for widely studying and introducing the military scientific and technological achievements made thanks to the direct initiative of President Kim Il Sung and under the wise leadership of Kim Jong Il.
Then he, conducted by officials, made the rounds of the first and second floors and outdoor exhibition to acquaint himself in detail with the scientific and technological work within the KPA.
It is very good that service personnel, scientists, technicians and researchers of the KPA have made through their researches a lot of valuable inventions and devices urgently needed for the combat preparations of the KPA by displaying collective wisdom and creative ingenuity and presented them to the current exhibition, he said.
Seeing the inventions and devices presented to the exhibition, I can realize that the KPA is working hard to settle scientific and technological issues related to the combat preparations true to the intention of the WPK to push back the frontiers of latest science and technology, he noted.
He repeatedly praised the scientists, technicians, researchers and service personnel of the KPA for their laudable achievements, noting that they have conducted strenuous scientific researches conducive to stepping up the combat preparations of the KPA and improving the standard of soldiers and people’s living by displaying their burning revolutionary enthusiasm and creative ingenuity in the past.
He gave precious instructions for further developing science and technology within the KPA as required by the new century.
He underscored the need to get mastery of latest science and technology in order to ensure that the level of military science and technology of the KPA surpasses the worldwide level of military science and technology and they will develop fast.
The KPA should display according to different sectors inventions and devices highly estimated and selected stage by stage in different sectors including units at various levels and military academies and put the operation of the exhibition on a normal basis as it has been wonderfully rebuilt and modernized.
He expressed expectation and conviction that the current exhibition would mark an important occasion in making a positive contribution to putting spurs to the development of science and technology of the KPA, rounding off the combat preparations and improving the standard of soldiers and people’s living.
Kim Jong Un inspects a display while touring the KPA Military Science and Technology Exhibition. Also seen in attendance in this image are: VMar Ri Yong Ho (L) and Gen. Pak Jae Gyong (3rd L) (Photo: KCNA-Yonhap)
Kim Jong Un is is briefed about a firearms display. In this image are: Gen. Pak Jae Gyong (2nd L), Gen. Kim Yong Chol (4th R), VMar Kim Jong Gak (3rd R) and VMar Kim Yong Chun (R) (Photo: KCNA)
A performer of the KPA Circus, during its magic show "For All Eternity" (Photo: KCNA)
KJU was also reported to have attended a magic show entitled “For All Eternity,” given by the KPA Circus. KCNA reports:
Put on the stage were numbers of illusionary and movie jugglery.
The performers presented tricks of making optical changes of objects in space-time.
Kim Jong Un set forth tasks which would serve as guidelines for further developing Juche-oriented acrobatic art, a powerful means for politico-ideological, cultural and emotional education of people.
Enjoying the performance were Choe Ryong Hae, Ri Yong Ho, Kim Jong Gak, Jang Song Thaek, Kim Yong Chun, Hyon Chol Hae, Choe Pu Il, Kim Yong Chol and labor innovators of major industrial establishments, teachers and researchers of universities, officials of dongs of districts, exemplary heads of their people’s
The rocket for Pyongyang’s planned satellite launch later this month has been installed on the launch pad, Xinhua correspondents saw at the launch site Sunday.
A official said at the scene that the Unha-3 rocket, which is slated to blast off during the April 12-16 window and send an “earth observation” satellite into space, is yet to be fuelled.
Xinhua was among the foreign media invited to visit the launching station, control and command center and some other places.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) announced last month its plan to launch the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite to mark the 100th birthday of late leader Kim Il Sung, which has triggered global concerns.
The injection of liquid fuel will start after the second- and third-stage units are assembled, the sources said.
Despite strong opposition by Japan, the United States, South Korea and other countries to the plan, the latest development shows North Korea has entered the final stage of preparations for the launch.
The setting up of the first-stage booster was confirmed by analysis of data from a U.S. reconnaissance satellite.
According to the sources, the first-stage booster was assembled vertically on the launchpad, which is about 50 meters high, at the new missile base in Tongchang-ri completed last year.
U.S. and South Korean authorities believe the second- and third-stage units will be set up by early this week, followed by the injection of liquid fuel from an underground facility.
The liquid fuel used by North Korea is said to be highly corrosive, making it difficult to store in a fuel tank for a long time after its injection, according to military experts. For this reason, the fuel will be injected a few days before the launch.
“No delays have been seen thus far, from the transportation of the missile body to the base to its assembly. We believe the launch will be carried out as announced,” a source said.
North Korea announced it will launch the rocket in the period from April 12 to 16.
Starting Wednesday, North Korea is scheduled to hold a series of political events, including a representatives’ meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea. During this meeting, the North’s new leader, Kim Jong Un, is expected to assume the hermetic country’s highest posts, such as the general secretary of the party.
Another diplomatic source said North Korea will “fire the missile by April 15, [to celebrate the] 100th [anniversary of the] birthday of late President Kim Il Sung…and the completion of the power succession.”
Meanwhile, the launch of the U’nha-3 and Kwangmyo’ngso’ng-3 satellite may not be the only test carried out by the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP) Central Committee’s Machine-Building Industry Department and its subordinate organizations, the Second Economy Commission and Second Natural Sciences Academy. South Korean officials say that ongoing excavation and construction activities near P’unggye-ri, Kilchu County, North Hamgyo’ng Province suggest the DPRK may conduct a third underground nuclear detonation, likely HEU. Yonhap reports:
Satellite images show the communist nation digging a new tunnel underground in the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the country’s northeast, where it conducted two previous nuclear tests, first in 2006 and then in 2009.
The construction is believed to be in its final stage, the official said.
“North Korea is making clandestine preparations for a third nuclear test at Punggye-ri in North Hamkyong Province, where it conducted two nuclear tests in the past,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
Commercial satellite imagery showed piles of earth and sand at the entrance of a tunnel in the Punggye-ri site. The soil is believed to have been brought to the site to plug the tunnel, one of final steps before carrying out a nuclear test blast.
A nuclear test following a long-range missile test fits the pattern of North Korean behavior.
In 2006, the provocative regime carried out its first-ever nuclear test, three months after the test-firing of its long-range Taepodong-2 rocket. The second nuclear test in 2009 came just one month after a long-range rocket launch.
The North says it will fire off its Unha-3 long-range rocket between April 12-16 to put what it claims is a satellite into orbit. But regional powers believe the launch is a pretext to disguise a ballistic missile test banned under a U.N. Security Council resolution.
Sources said the North is believed to have put the rocket on a launch pad in the country’s northwest on Friday.
The North’s nuclear and missile programs have long been a regional security concern. The country is believed to have advanced ballistic missile technology, though it is still not clear whether it has mastered the technology to put a nuclear warhead on a missile.
Technicians and other personnel of the Korea Committee for Space Technology and the Korean People’s Army [KPA] continue to finalize preparations for the launch of the U’nha-3 carrier rocket and Kwangmyo’ngso’ng-3 [KMS-3] satellite. 38 North reports:
Commercial satellite photographs taken on April 4 reveal the gantry’s work platform is now covered and closed around the mobile launch stand, indicating work is being conducted inside, but also making it impossible to determine whether the Unha-3 or any part of it is erected on the pad. Moreover, the platform is enclosed by canvas to protect it from weather but also to further ensure that activity inside is not visible. (Previous satellite imagery dating back to March 28 showed the platform open and no stages present.)
There are some indicators to suggest, however, that at least the first stage may be stacked in the gantry and the launch date is growing closer. First, the fueling activity observed for the past week seems to have been completed. Most of the empty fuel and oxidizer tanks appear to have been removed from the buildings that supply the first stage, indicating an end to the delivery of propellants.
Second, the North Koreans appear to have erected a barricade or security checkpoint for vehicles entering from the west, the only road to the pad from other main facilities at the range. This barrier or checkpoint, not present in March 28 satellite photos, indicates heightened security at the pad—something present.
Third, the launch pad itself has been cleaned up and objects seen near the gantry previously have been removed. The scraping of the area adjacent to the south side of the pad down to dirt has also been completed and the brush cut up to the fuel buildings to reduce the chance of a fire reaching them. It also appears that a layer of dirt has been spread into the concrete flame trench probably to reduce erosion by the rockets exhaust gases.
A source related to North Korean affairs has said Pyongyang is likely to launch its long-range missile on April 14th and not April 12th, as was expected earlier.
The source said North Korea has invited reporters from foreign media to the launch event, telling them to enter Pyongyang on April 12th.
The source said considering the state of North Korean roadways, it will take at least a day to move from Pyongyang to the launch pad in Dongchang-ri in Northern Pyongan Province, and the invited reporters will likely observe the launch on the morning of the 14th.
Other North Korean experts also said it was highly likely the North would fire its rocket that day to commemorate the birth of North Korean founder Kim Il-Sung.
Japan’s Nippon Television Network said on Friday that North Korea has attached the first part of the Gwangmyongsong-3 rocket onto the launch pad.
South Korean military sources have said North Korea will probably start fueling its rocket on Sunday.
The North Korean launch is meant as a showcase of national power and technology during celebrations of one of the country’s most important days — the centennial of the April 15 birth of national founder Kim Il Sung. North Korea says the rocket will carry a satellite into orbit to study crops and natural resources.
Washington and others call the launch a cover to test missile systems that could target parts of the United States. While North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests, analysts don’t believe it has yet mastered the technology needed to shrink a nuclear weapon and mount it onto a missile.
Launch preparation can also be seen in separate GeoEye satellite images from Saturday reviewed by Allison Puccioni, image analyst at IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly. The images show vehicles on the launch pad, nearby fuel and oxidizer containers and a crane above the launch tower that’s been placed “directly over the mobile launch platform, the position necessary to erect the rocket.”
Cloudy skies from Sunday through Tuesday obscured the launch site, but the U.S.-Korea Institute’s analysis says that if Pyongyang is following a timeline similar to 2006 and 2009 launches, workers should have put the rocket’s first stage on the launch stand Sunday or Monday, with the second and third stages coming during the next two days.
South Korea says Japan has overreacted, and the United States seems to be more concerned with what the missile can do, rather than what might happen if it malfunctions.
On April 6, Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka visited the Air Defense Command headquarters, located in the compound of U.S. Yokota Air Base in Fussa, western Tokyo. The ADC is under the jurisdiction of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces.
There, he met with ADC Commander Harukazu Saito and U.S. Forces Japan Commander Burton Field, and expressed his hope that Japan and the United States would work closely to deal with the problem.
The ADC headquarters was transferred to the Yokota base in late March to facilitate coordination with the United States.
The office will analyze intelligence gathered by U.S. forces and Japan’s SDF, and command operations to intercept the North Korean missile if there is any chance of it landing on Japanese territory or its waters.
“I was reassured by Commander Field that U.S. forces will share information with Japan,” Tanaka told reporters after his visit.
On April 3, Tanaka spoke by telephone with U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, during which they both agreed that Japan and the United States would work together to deal with the threat.
However, a Japanese Defense Ministry official said Washington’s sense of crisis is more subdued than in 2009 when Pyongyang launched a long-range ballistic missile in the direction of the U.S. mainland.
This time, however, the missile will take a southern trajectory.
In both cases, North Korea asserted it was launching a satellite.
“The country that is feeling the biggest threat is Japan,” said an executive of the Japanese Defense Ministry.
Japan is deploying Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) surface-to-air guided missiles in three locations in the Tokyo metropolitan area and four locations in Okinawa Prefecture.
But there appears to be little chance of missile debris, or the missile itself, falling on the Tokyo metropolitan area, a Defense Ministry official said.
The United States has yet to disclose full details of its own measures to deal with the missile launch.
On April 5, U.S. Defense Department spokesman George Little told reporters that the United States is monitoring North Korean moves and is ready to track the missile if it is launched.
The United States is deploying Aegis destroyers equipped with missile defense capabilities. Reconnaissance aircraft will also take to the air.
CNN reported that sea-based X-band radar equipment, which is used to detect incoming missiles, left a U.S. Navy base in Hawaii in late March bound for the Japan-Korea region.
Washington is particularly interested in the range and capability of the North Korean missile.
In a congressional hearing held in late March, U.S. Forces Korea Commander James Thurman was asked if North Korea had the ability in the near future to fire a ballistic missile that could reach the continental United States.
Thurman said North Korea, at its current pace of development, would soon be able to build a missile that poses a serious threat to the United States.
Some 30 foreign reporters from around the world are in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) capital to cover the country’s satellite launch, the official news agency KCNA reported Saturday.
According to the report, a total of 21 foreign media, including major world wire services and television broadcasters such as the AP, CNN and NBC of the United States, Channel One (the First Channel TV) of Russia, Kyodo News Agency and NHK of Japan, AFP of France, and Reuters and BBC of Britain, have sent reporters to Pyongyang.
Also on Saturday, Pyongyang bureaus of Xinhua and other foreign media received an invitation to attend authorities-organized activities relating to the launch on Sunday, but no further details were revealed.
The DPRK announced on March 16 it would launch the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite between April 12 and 16 to mark the 100th birthday of late leader Kim Il-Sung.
The “earth observation” satellite, to be carried by a long-range Unha-3 rocket, will be launched south of Cholsan County, North Phyongan Province, the KCNA reported.
On March 17, the Korean Committee for Space Technology (KCST) extended invitations for foreign experts and journalists to visit the “Sohae” Satellite Launching Station, the General Satellite Control and Command Center and other places and observe the launch.
Photo released by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 6, 2012 shows the inauguration ceremony held at the Huichon power station in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), on April 5, 2012. The DPRK said on April 6 that its Huichon power station has started operations, which will help ease electricity shortages in the capital. The power station, located in Jagang Province, will also help protect cultivated land and residential areas along the Chongchon River from flooding, and ensure an ample supply of water to the industrial establishments in Huichon and Namhung areas, according to official media reports. (Xinhua/KCNA)
The DPRK opened the Hu’ich’o'n Power Station in Chagang Province on Thursday (5 April). Supreme People’s Assembly [SPA] Presidium President Kim Yong Nam, DPRK Cabinet Premier Choe Yong Rim, National Defense Commission [NDC] Vice Chairman and Minister of the People’s Armed Forces VMar Kim Yong Chun, KWP Secretary Choe Tae Bok, KWP Secretary and Director of General Affairs Tae Jong Su, Gen. Yun Jong Rin and DPRK Vice Premier and State Planning Commission Chairman Ro Tu Chol were among the members of the central leadership to attend the opening ceremony. Choe Yong Rim delivered the keynote address. Choe was last reported to have visit the construction site of Huichon Power Station on 20 February 2012. Xinhua reports:
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) said Friday that its Huichon power station has started operations, which will help ease electricity shortages in the capital.
Premier Choe Yong Rim told an inauguration ceremony on Thursday that the Huichon power station was “a brilliant fruition of the wise guidance of late leader Kim Jong Il,” official newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported.
The power station, located in Jagang Province, will also help protect cultivated land and residential areas along the Chongchon River from flooding, and ensure an ample supply of water to the industrial establishments in Huichon and Namhung areas, according to official media reports.
The Central Committee and Central Military Commissions of the Workers’ Party of Korea sent a joint congratulatory message to builders and members of shock brigades.
The party “will always remember the heroic feats performed by the builders who erected a gigantic structure for the country’s prosperity and its people’s happiness,” the message said.
The message said it took only three years to complete the construction of the power station, a project which normally needs more than 10 years to finish.
The Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly issued a decree on April 1 awarding the Kim Il Sung Prize for the design of the Huichon power station.
DPRK Premier Choe Yong Rim delivers the keynote address during an opening ceremony of Huichon Power Station in Jagang Province on Thursday, April 5 (Photo: KCNA)
Photo released by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 6, 2012 shows the Huichon power station in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). The DPRK said on April 6 that its Huichon power station has started operations, which will help ease electricity shortages in the capital. The power station, located in Jagang Province, will also help protect cultivated land and residential areas along the Chongchon River from flooding, and ensure an ample supply of water to the industrial establishments in Huichon and Namhung areas, according to official media reports. (Xinhua/KCNA)
North Korea said Friday that it has dedicated a new hydroelectric power plant in its central northern area bordering China, a project long touted as a symbol of its bid for the construction of a “strong and prosperous state.”
“The construction of the Huichon Power Station has been completed in the DPRK,” the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, adding that a dedication ceremony took place on Thursday.
DPRK is the acronym for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“The builders finished the construction of the power station in a matter of three years though it would have taken more than a decade at normal pace,” the KCNA said.
Chronic shortage of electricity and other energy has long been one of the problems beleaguering the North’s moribund economy, which has been under sanctions by the international community due to its nuclear and missile tests.
“The completion makes it possible to more satisfactorily settle the shortage of electricity in Pyongyang, protect cultivated land and residential areas along the River Chongchon from flooding and ensure an ample supply of industrial water to the industrial establishments in the Huichon and Namhung areas,” KCNA said.
The plant, which has a generating capacity of 300,000 kilowatts, was launched by late leader Kim Jong-il, who reportedly visited the construction site eight times before his death last December to order an early completion of the project.
North Korea has designated 2012 as a moment in its history to rise as “a great, powerful and prosperous nation” — a propaganda slogan that was spearheaded by Kim Jong-il.
New economic goals were announced in 2009 that called for undertaking major construction projects as well as modernizing farms and factories in time for the centennial birth of the communist country’s founder, Kim Il-Sung, on April 15.
Earlier, North Korea announced plans to launch a satellite on the back of a long-range rocket as part of the April celebrations. The international community has urged Pyongyang to cancel the launch, warning that it would be seen as a violation of a ban on missile activity.
The opening of the Huichon Power Station in Jagang Province, north of Pyongyang, was the first big ceremony in a month of celebrations timed for the April centenary of the birth of late President Kim Il Sung.
The power station on the Chongchon River, which had been under construction for more than three years, was a favored project of late leader Kim Jong Il. Kim had visited the project at least five times before his December death.
Son Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s new leader, visited the construction site with his father in August 2011.
The power station is North Korea’s largest, with two dams and a network of tunnels. The dams harness water from the Jangja and Chongchon Rivers. Construction on a second power station further down the Chongchon River is due to begin soon, said the top officials who spoke at Thursday’s ceremony.
North Korea suffers from an acute power shortage.
New economic goals announced in 2009 called for undertaking major construction projects such as the Huichon Power Station as well as modernizing farms and factories in time for the April 2012 festivities.
North Korea will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Kim Il Sung’s birth on April 15.
North Korea also has announced plans to launch a satellite on the back of a long-range rocket as part of the celebrations. The United States and other nations have urged Pyongyang to cancel the launch, warning that it would be seen as a violation of a ban on missile activity.
Minister of People's Security Gen. Ri Myong Su gives the keynote speech at a rally of MPS and KPISF personnel. Seen behind him, L, is Col. Gen. Ri P'yo'ng-sam, head of the MPS/KPISF Political Bureau (Photo: KCNA)
The Ministry of People’s Security [MPS] and the Korean People’s Internal Security Forces held a loyalty rally Tuesday (3 April) on the campus of the MPS’ national headquarters in northern Pyongyang. The DPRK central leadership will need all the police and public safety personnel in the coming weeks with the 4th Party Conference on 11 April, the 5th session of the 12th Supreme People’s Assembly [SPA] on 13 April and a military parade scheduled for 15 April. KCNA reports:
Present there were Ri Myong Su, minister of People’s Security, Ri Pyong Sam, director of the Political Bureau of the KPISF, officials of the ministry, people’s security personnel and service personnel of the KPISF.
Led by the minister, its participants made a solemn pledge to hold Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in high esteem for all ages as the sun of juche, sun of songun, successfully carry out the behests of peerlessly great men and remain faithful to the songun revolutionary leadership of Kim Jong Un.
They said that they will consolidate Pyongyang and the whole country as a fortress for defending the leader, holding aloft the slogan “Let us defend the Party C.C. headed by the dear respected Kim Jong Un with our lives!” They determined to push ahead with the construction of major projects and undertake more good work for the people, aware of the mission and duty as protectors of their lives and properties and thus contribute to bringing the Party’s plan for building a thriving nation into full bloom.
Personnel of the Ministry of People's Security and Korean People's Internal Security Force assemble in front of the Kim Il-so'ng statue at MPS headquarters. At the left in the background is the Ponghwa Art Theater (Photo: KCNA)
MPS and KPISF personnel gesture during a loyalty rally (Photo: KCNA)
Ministry of People's Security/KPISF Headquarters (Photo: Google image)
Kim Jong Un (C) visits the KPA Strategic Rocket Forces Command (Photo: KCNA)
The Korea Committee for Space Technology reports in DPRK media that it officially notified several relevant international organizations of its intention to launch the Kwangmyo’ngso’ng-3. KCNA reports:
The relevant bodies of the DPRK sent necessary information to the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Maritime Organization, the International Telecommunication Union and others according to international regulations and procedures as part of the preparations for the launch of earth observation satellite Kwangmyongsong-3.
The Korean Committee for Space Technology will invite experienced foreign experts on space science and technology and journalists to visit the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, the General Satellite Control and Command Centre and other places and observe its launch.
The U.S. Defense Department warned Friday that the launch of a long-range rocket would violate a series of UN resolutions and considered it as a “destabilizing behavior” to the Asia-Pacific region.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby urged the DPRK leadership to “reconsider this decision and to conform to their obligations under those sanctions.”
“We continue to operate every day with our South Korean counterparts and we hold firmly to our alliance obligations and to security on the Korean Peninsula,” said Kirby.
He added that the Defense Department is “very comfortable with the full range of military capabilities we have at our disposal in the Asia Pacific region and in and around the Korean peninsula.”
The U.S. State Department also said the launch plan could jeopardize nascent efforts to restart nuclear negotiations with the DPRK and made it “very hard” to go forward with its planned food assistance to the DPRK.
“Were we to have the launch, it would create obviously tensions and that would make the implementation of any kind of nutritional agreement quite difficult,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, hinting that the DPRK’s latest move was “an abrogation of that agreement.”
According to a deal reached between Pyongyang and Washington in Beijing late last month, the United States agreed to provide 240,000 tons of food as aid to the DPRK in exchange for Pyongyang’s promise to impose a moratorium on nuclear tests and missile launches, and allow checks by international nuclear inspectors.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton slammed the DPRK’s launch plan as “highly provocative,” warning that such a launch would pose a threat to regional security and would also be inconsistent with the DPRK’s recent undertaking to refrain from long-range missile launches.
Clinton urged the DPRK to “adhere to its international obligations, including all relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” adding that Washington is consulting closely with its international partners on the next steps.
Meanwhile, Russia said it was also seriously concerned about Pyongyang’s rocket launch plan, urging it not to proceed with it.
Russia’s foreign ministry called on the DPRK not to oppose itself to the international community, and create additional difficulties for restarting the six-party talks on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.
Moscow also said the resumption of the long-stalled talks and diplomatic solutions are the only viable option available to both terminate the nuclear problems in the region and to lift the UN sanctions against the country, which is prohibited from conducting launches that use ballistic missile technology.
However, the ministry also said Moscow had never denied the DPRK’s sovereign right to pursue peaceful space programs and urged all parties involved to exercise maximum restraint.
The DPRK’s neighboring country South Korea Friday also voiced its “serious concern” over the plan, calling it a “grave provocation threatening the peace and security” on the Korean Peninsula as well as Northeast Asia.
The South Korean foreign ministry said it would work closely with related countries, including members of the six-party talks, to urge the DPRK to “immediately stop provocative act and abide by its international obligations.”
Also on Friday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he is “seriously concerned” about the DPRK’s satellite launch.
In a statement, the UN chief called on Pyongyang to fully comply with the UN resolutions that ban any launch using ballistic missile technology.
China has also voiced its concern over the DPRK’s satellite launch plan.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun, in a meeting with the DPRK Ambassador to China Ji Jae Ryong on Friday, expressed China’s worry over the matter, according to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Zhang exchanged views with Ji on China-DPRK ties and the situation on the Korean Peninsula, said the statement.
Zhang said China had taken note of the DPRK’s satellite plan as well as the reaction from the international community. China believes it is the common obligation and in common interests of all parties concerned to maintain the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia, said the statement.
“We sincerely hope parties concerned stay calm and exercise restraint and avoid escalation of tension that may lead to a more complicated situation,” Zhang was quoted as saying.
On April 5, 2009, the DPRK conducted a similar launch, which, according to the country’s official KCNA news agency, successfully put a “Kwangmyongsong-2″ communications satellite into orbit. But some countries, including South Korea, Russia and the United States, believed the launch was a failure. The launch brought about criticism and tightened sanctions on the DPRK.
The DPRK insists its satellite launches are for peaceful and scientific purposes. The KCNA said in a report on Friday that the upcoming launch would greatly encourage the army and people of the DPRK in the building of a thriving nation and will offer an important occasion of putting the country’s technology of space use “for peaceful purposes on a higher stage.”
Kim Jong Un (2nd R) looks through binoculars across the DMZ into South Korea during an inspection of sites in and around P'anmunjo'm. Also in attendance is Gen. Pak Jae Gyong (L) and Gen. Kim Yong Chol (R). Since 2009 Gen. Kim has managed military intelligence operations against South Korea. Closely linked to Kim Jong Un's succession, he was promoted to 4-star general in February 2012. (Photo: KCNA)
DPRK state media reported on 4 March (Sunday) that Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n) inspected P’anmunjo’m, a DPRK settlement near the demilitarized zone on the DPRK-ROK border. According to KCNA Kim Jong Un told service personnel stationed there to “maintain the maximum alertness as they are standing in confrontation with the enemies at all times.” Attending to his visit were Gen. Pak Jae Gyong, Gen. Kim Yong Chol and Col. Gen. Jo Kyong Chol.
Kim Jong Un (3rd L) visiting P'anmunjo'm. Also in this image are: Kim Yang Gon (5th L), Pak Pong Ju (6th L), Gen. Pak Jae Gyong (7th L), Kang Sok Ju (4th R), Jang Song Taek (3rd R) and Kim Ki Nam (2nd R) (Photo: KCNA-Yonhap)
Kim Jong Un (1st row, C) poses for a commemorative photograph near a monument of the autograph of Kim Il Sung, his grandfather, the late DPRK President and country founder. Also seen in this image are: Mun Kyong Dok (1st row, L), Choe Ryo'ng-hae (1st row, 2nd L), Pak To Chun (1st row, 3rd L), Jang Song Taek (1st row, 4th L), Kim Yang Gon (1st row, 2nd R), Kim Ki Nam (1st row, 3rd R), Ri Jae Il (2nd Row, 2nd L), Han Kwang Sang (2nd row, 5th L) Pak Pong Ju (2nd row, C), Gen. Kim Yong Chol (2nd row, 6th R), Gen. Pak Jae Gyong (2nd row 5th R), Col. Gen. Jo Kyong Chol (2nd row, 4th R) and Hwang Pyong So (2nd row, R) (Photo: KCNA-Yonhap)
Also attendance were Kim Yang Gon (KWP Secretary and Director of the United Front Department), Jang Song Taek, Kang Sok Ju (DPRK Cabinet Vice Premier), Kim Ki Nam (KWP Secretary and Director of Propaganda), Pak To Chun (KWP Secretary of Military Industries), Mun Kyong Dok (KWP Secretary), Choe Ryo’ng-hae (KWP Secretary), Ri Jae Il (KWP Propaganda Senior Deputy Director), Hwang Pyong So (KWP Organization Guidance Deputy Director), Pak Pong Ju (KWP Light Industries Deputy Director) and Han Kwang Sang (KWP Finance and Accounting Deputy Director).
KCNA reports:
He was greeted on the spot by commanding officers of the unit standing guard over Panmunjom.
After receiving a report on the unit’s performance of combat duty, he went to the dangerous forefront.
He first visited the Monument to President Kim Il Sung’s Signature standing sublimely at Panmunjom.
He had a photo taken with the officials accompanying him before the monument.
Then he went up to the balcony of the Phanmun Pavilion to learn in detail about the enemy movements.
He expressed great satisfaction over the fact that all the soldiers on the outpost duty were following every move of the enemies with vigilance and performing their combat duties in a responsible manner with strong class resolution to defend the socialist country at the cost of their lives. He highly appreciated their feats.
He told the soldiers on the outpost duty at Panmunjom to always maintain the maximum alertness as they are standing in confrontation with the enemies at all times.
He met those soldiers who had finished their combat duties and had a photo taken with them.
He went round several places of Panmunjom including the Phanmun Pavilion, the Thongil House, the conference room of the armistice talks and the hall where the armistice agreement was signed.
He stressed the need to preserve and manage well the conference room of the armistice talks and the hall where the armistice agreement was signed associated with the history of the great Fatherland Liberation War in which the KPA defeated the imperialist allied forces and the Phanmun Pavilion and the Thongil House which reflect the will of the Korean people to reunify the country in order to show them to the generations to come who will live in the reunified country.
Underlining the need to glorify generation after generation the feats heroic Korea performed by winning victory in the war fought to beat back the U.S.-led imperialist allied forces, startling the world, he emphasized that if a fight occurs in the future, the army and people of the DPRK will force the enemies to sign a paper of surrender, not simply putting signature on the armistice agreement, their knees bent.
Going round a bedroom, mess hall and gymnasium of the soldiers standing guard over Panmunjom and other places, he learned in detail about their service and life.
He put forth the important tasks which would serve as guidelines for increasing the combat capability of the unit.
The Korean people can sleep well and he feels reassured as the soldiers on the outpost duty are defending the gate of the country as firm as an iron wall, he said, adding that he fully believes in them.
He gave them a pair of binoculars, an automatic rifle and a machine gun as souvenirs and had a photo session with them.
The late DPRK leader Kim Jong Il inspects an area near P'anmunjo'm on 24 November 1996, five days after the DPRK closed its liaison office there. Seen in this image are the late VMar Jo Myong Rok (R), Jang Song Taek (2nd R) and Gen. Hyon Chol Hae (4th R) (KCNA file photo)
Service members of the KPA gather for a mass rally on Kim Il Sung Square in central Pyongyang, broadcasted on state television on Sunday, 4 March 2012. (Photo: KCNA-Yonhap)
Chief of the Korean People's Army General Staff, VMar Ri Yong Ho, delivers the keynote speech during a mass rally held in Pyongyang on 4 March 2012. Also on the rostrum in this image are: KWP Secretaries Mun Kyong Dok (2nd L) and Kim Yang Gon (3rd L); NDC Vice Chairmen Gen. O Kuk Ryol (4th L), VMar Ri Yong Mu (5th L) and VMar Kim Yong Chun (6th L); DPRK Cabinet Premier Choe Yong Rim (7th L); and, KWP Secretaries Kim Ki Nam (8th L) and Choe Tae Bok (9th L) (Photo: KCNA)
Kim Jong Un’s visit occurred before Korean People’s Army [KPA] personnel and DPRK citizens gathered for a mass rally in Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang. Choe Sang Hun writes in theNew York Times:
Such rhetoric notwithstanding, North Korea struck a deal last week with its sworn enemy, the United States, agreeing to suspend its nuclear weapons tests and uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors to monitor activities at its main nuclear complex. In return, North Korea will receive 240,000 tons of food aid from Washington.
But the country spurned a repeated call by Washington to improve ties with South Korea, and has instead kept up its criticism of the South, where elections later this year will serve as a referendum on President Lee Myung-bak’s policies toward the North.
Over the weekend, North Korea escalated its militaristic rhetoric and threats, criticizing a joint American-South Korean military drill. It also seized on a poster in a South Korean military barracks that was leaked last week. That poster said: “Let’s beat Kim Jong-il to death! Let’s strike Kim Jong-un to death!”
On Sunday, North Korean television broadcast a rally of 150,000 people in the capital of Pyongyang vowing to punish the South for insulting their leader.
Photographs by the North Korean media showed soldiers and railroad workers shaking their rifles and fists under slogans like “Let’s tear the traitor Lee Myung-bak to pieces!” or “Let’s beat the psychopathic traitor Lee Myung-bak to death!”
Also on Sunday, the North’s foreign ministry accused Mr. Lee of trying to disrupt American efforts to engage the North.
South Korean officials stood by their policy of not responding to these invectives, which they considered propaganda aimed at driving a wedge between Washington and Seoul and inciting a political dispute within the South in an election year.
Another view of the rostrum overlooking Kim Il Sung Square where VMar Ri Yong Ho (8th L) delivers a speech to a mass rally. In this image are: Gen. Pak Jae Gyong (L), Minister of People's Security Gen. Ri Myong Su (2nd L), Ministry of State Security Political Bureau Director Col. Gen. Kim Chang Sop (3rd L), NDC Member and Minister of State Security Gen. U Tong Chuk (4th L), NDC Member and KPA General Political Department Deputy Director VMar Kim Jong Gak (5th L), KWP Secretary and Director of General Affairs Tae Jong Su (6th L) and NDC Member and KWP Secretary of Military Industries Pak To Chun. (Photo: KCNA)
Prior to Kim Jong Un’s inspection the National Defense Commission [NDC] Policy Department held a press conference in Pyongyang. The Associated Press reports:
On Saturday, a spokesman for North Korea’s National Defense Commission told a news conference that the United States must halt the joint military drills if it is serious about peace on the Korean peninsula.
North Korea calls the U.S.-South Korean war games a threat to peace at a time when U.S. and North Korean officials are holding talks aimed at improving relations.
The U.S. and North Korea announced last week that Washington had agreed to provide 240,000 metric tons of food aid in exchange for a freeze of North Korea’s nuclear activities. A U.S. envoy is scheduled to meet with North Korean officials in Beijing on Wednesday to discuss the distribution of food.
The deal is seen as a first step toward resuming six-nation nuclear disarmament-for-aid talks suspended in 2009, and a tentative move toward improving the tense relationship between the wartime foes. The six-nation talks involve the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan.
“Talks and military exercises are contradictory,” Maj. Gen. Kwak Chol Hui, deputy director of the National Defense Commission’s Policy Department, told the news conference Saturday in response to a question from The Associated Press.
North Korea considers the drills an additional affront because they are being staged during the semiofficial 100-day mourning period following Kim Jong Il’s Dec. 17 death.
Across Pyongyang, vans mounted with speakers drove through the streets Saturday broadcasting the statement denouncing South Korea. State media reported that 1.7 million young North Koreans signed up for military service in a 24-hour period and that hundreds of thousands signed petitions calling for revenge. The figures could not be confirmed independently.
Meanwhile, in another indication of his status in the central leadership, a documentary film on Kim Jong Un’s military inspections and other public activities during January 2012 has been released.
