Shameless nature of "people's government"
Pyongyang, May 16 (KCNA) -- Suppression of the student and labour movement is being intensified in South Korea day by day.
On May 13, the South Korean puppet prosecution announced that it would round up 411 cadres of the South Korean Federation of University Student Councils (Hanchongryon) as soon as possible and detain them on charges of "involvement in an organisation benefitting the enemy." and it threatened that if other students take part in functions sponsored by Hanchongryon, it would arrest and punish all of them on the same charges.
The authorities are openly revealing their intention to crack down upon a rally and demonstration of workers slated for may 16, branding them as "illegal violent demos." They declared that they would round up participants though they had dispersed them in the past.
This shows that the present South Korean regime, styling itself a "people's government", is brutally dealing with just demands of workers and students who take the lead in the struggle for democratisation of society, vital rights and national reunification.
The fact that the threats were made with the approach of the anniversary of the historic may democratic resistance of South Korean people brings the undemocratic nature of the present regime into bolder relief, stirring up the indignation of the entire nation.
Worse still, the present regime threatens to totally block 6th meeting of deputies to the 6th-term Hanchongryon due to be held in Kwangju, stained with the blood shed by students and citizens in the may resistance.
This is an insult and treachery to the patriotic martyrs who fell down while fighting for independence, democracy and reunification.
The successive military fascist regimes and the "civilian government" were punished by history for bestially suppressing the patriotic struggles of students and workers, branding them as "illegal acts benefitting the enemy."
The present South Korean authorities argue that theirs is a "democratic regime" different from the former regimes in character. But their advertisement is nothing but a hypocrisy.
The shameless nature of the present regime is clearly manifested in the fact that it takes workers and students as the first target of suppression.
Historic truth cannot be concealed = KCNA commentary =
Pyongyang, May 16 (KCNA) -- The Japanese reactionaries are persistently kicking up a row over the non-existent "suspected abduction of Japanese by North Korean operatives."
There is no need to say that what they seek in this third-rate racket is to bury their heinous crimes against the Korean people in the oblivion of history by incriminating the DPRK.
However, history never forgets national chauvinistic massacres committed by the Japanese imperialists against the Korean people.
A strong earthquake, which erupted in the Kanto district of Japan on September 1, 1923, reduced it to ashes and caused fires in many places, driving Japanese people panic-stricken.
Instantly, the reactionary Japanese government, in a bid to divert elsewhere the public feelings, spread rumours that groups of Koreans "kindled fires" and rose in revolts.
In this way, it incited extreme national chauvinism.
The then minister of home affairs, Rentaro Mizuno, issued an order on merciless killing of Koreans to all parts of Japan. On his order, the army, military police, police, other armed groups and even rightwing organisations including the "vigilance committee" were mobilized in the butchery of Koreans.
Slaughters committed by the Japanese imperialist were cruel beyond the imagination of humankind.
Japanese Sakaguma Kikawa and Kenjiro Arai, eyewitnesses of the killing of Koreans in those days, had this to say:
"The belly of a young Korean woman was cut off, with a 6 to 7 month old unborn baby writhing in it. Moreover, I withdrew, terribly frightened to see a bamboo spear deeply driven into her womb." "First of all, they beheaded children in turns in the eyes of their parents. Adults were bound to wooden walls and pillars so that they could not shake, and then they were mangled with swords. Some Japanese with no swords began to cut limbs of living people with saws."
As many as 6,160 Koreans were killed in Tokyo, for instance, from September 1 to 18. Those who were murdered in all parts of Japan are countless.
The oswiecim concentration camp is a place exposing racial chauvinistic massacres by fascist Germany, while the bloodshed committed at the time of the great Kanto earthquake is the height of the national chauvinistic slaughters by the Japanese imperialists.
In the whole period of their occupation of Korea, the Japanese imperialists massacred more than one million innocent Koreans at random.
The Korean people will make the Japanese brutes pay for their crimes without fail.
Leaving aside their heinous crimes, the Japanese reactionaries are clamouring about "suspected abduction" without presenting clear substances and evidences. It is certain that they have lost even their reason.
They must clearly see the trend of the times and act with discretion.
Foreigners visit Mt. Kuwol recreation ground
Pyongyang, May 16 (KCNA) -- Cultural and friendship- related officials of foreign embassies here visited the recreation ground of scenic Mt. Kuwol on the west coast of Korea on May 15.
Being briefed on the fact that Mt. Kuwol has been built well as a recreation ground for the people under the loving care of General Kim Jong Il, the guests went round revolutionary sites of Kim Hyong Jik, an indomitable revolutionary fighter, historical and cultural relics and other places.
At the end of the visit, Bassam Al-Haj Hussein, counsellor of the Syrian embassy, said that the Mt. Kuwol recreation ground has been built splendidly thanks to the wise guidance of General Kim Jong Il.
He expressed the belief that the Korean people will achieve greater success in the struggle for the prosperity of the country and their happiness.
KSDP central committee meets
Pyongyang, May 16 (KCNA)-- A plenary meeting of the central committee of the Korean Social Democratic Party (KSDP) was held here on May 15.
Discussed at the meeting were the tasks of the KSDP to implement the five-point policy of great national unity.
Chairman of the KSDP central committee Kim Pyong Sik made a report, which was followed by speeches.
The reporter and speakers said that General Kim Jong Il in his historic letter "Let Us Reunify the Country Independently and Peacefully Through the Great Unity of the Entire Nation" clarified the five-point policy of great national unity -- to achieve great national unity on the principle of national independence and under the banner of patriotism, the banner of national reunification, improve the relations between the north and the south, reject domination and interference of foreign forces and fight against the traitors to the nation, the anti-reunification forces, hold contacts, promote dialogue and strengthen solidarity for great national unity.
It was stressed at the meeting that the five-point policy is indeed a just line indicating the most correct way of great national unity, an inspiring banner powerfully encouraging the whole nation to great unity. The meeting laid emphasis on vigorously struggling to implement the policy.
The meeting discussed a series of measures for holding contacts, promoting dialogue and realizing solidarity with political parties, organisations and individual persons in South Korea according to the five-point policy of great national unity, and adopted a relevant decision.
Complete withdrawal of U.S. Forces urged
Pyongyang, May 16 (KCNA) -- If Japan truly wants peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region including the Korean peninsula, it should urge a complete withdrawal of the Okinawa-based U.S. marine corps, not its "transfer" outside Japan, say papers here in commentaries today.
Rodong Sinmun says the U.S. military presence in South Korea and Japan is not for peace but for aggression. Japan, instead of urging the pullout of U.S. Forces, is craftily calling for their "transfer" in favor of the U.S. intention for a permanent military presence, it says, and continues:
The United States intends to keep hold on Japan and use it as a shock brigade for the execution of its Asia strategy, while Japan seeks overseas expansion with the backing of the U.S.
Japan will take part in U.S. military operations under the pretext of "support" according to the new "Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation Guidelines," even though the U.S. Forces are "transferred" to South Korea and other areas outside Japan.
This is just what the Japanese reactionaries seek. By calling for "transfer" of the Okinawa-based U.S. marine corps, they want to pacify public demand for the U.S. troop pullout, take part in U.S. military operations without restrictions and launch a reinvasion.
Minju Joson says Japan should not seek transfer of U.S. Forces outside Japan but bring forward their complete withdrawal from the Asia-Pacific region for discussions.
G.S. Kim Jong Il's letter, great banner of reunification, patriotism
Pyongyang, May 16 (KCNA) -- Ri Sang Chol, chief of the Pyongyang mission of the National Democratic Front of South Korea (NDFSK), made public a statement on May 14 in support of General Kim Jong Il's historic letter "Let Us Reunify the Country Independently and Peacefully Through the Great Unity of the Entire Nation."
He highly praised General Kim Jong Il's historic letter as a great charter of great national unity and national reunification, a great patriotic banner of reunification, and an immortal library.
Great national unity should be achieved on the principle of national independence and only then, the Korean nation can become a decisive force of national reunification, he noted, and went on to say:
The present authorities in the south should not commit the crime of retreating inter-Korean relations while being engrossed in the policy of dependence on outside forces, but convert the anti-north confrontation policy into a pro-north reconciliation policy with a patriotic position and take the road of national reconciliation and unity.
NDFSK, together with the people of all social standings, will give spurs to the grand march for national unity and national reunification, holding high the 10-point programme of the great unity of the whole nation put forward by President Kim Il Sung and the five-point policy of great national unity indicated by General Kim Jong Il.
Spring land management
Pyongyang, May 16 (KCNA) -- Spring land management has proved itself successful in Korea this year.
According to data available at the Ministry of Land and Environment Protection, more than 587,810,000 trees were planted, 2,800 kilometers of rivers and streams improved and 5,000 kilometers of roads repaired throughout the country.
More than 5,100 hectares of sapling plots have been created, 370 hectares of lands reclaimed and 69,800 hectares of lands freed from flood damage after river improvement projects.
Korea conducts land management in spring and autumn every year as a mass campaign.
KCTU protests authorities' suppression
Pyongyang, May 16 (KCNA) -- The South "Korean Confederation of Trade Unions" (KCTU) held a rally of protest against the fascist clique's suppression of May Day demonstrations in front of the puppet Seoul district public prosecutor's office on may 13, according to a report.
The ralliers said that many demonstrators were wounded by the prosecution and police suppression and urged the authorities to set free the arrested workers and students at an early date.
They also demanded the puppet authorities to sternly punish the evil businessmen who engage themselves in unreasonable actions.
Repatriation of GI remains should not be used for political purpose
Panmunjom, May 16 (KCNA) -- The spokesman for the Panmunjom mission of the Korean People's Army (KPA) released a statement today over the fact that remains of U.S. servicemen discovered in the north of Korea have not been transferred to the U.S. side.
The spokesman said:
The first joint discovery operation was carried out in Kujang, North Phyongan Province, from April 21 to May 14 to search for remains of u.s. Servicemen under the agreement reached at DPRK-U.S. working-level talks.
Through the operation two sets of GI remains were discovered thanks to sincere efforts of both sides, but they have not been transferred to the U.S. side due to its unreasonable behavior.
As the agreement concerning this year's joint discovery operations was reached between the KPA and the U.S. department of defense, we demanded that a delegate of the U.S. department of defense take over the remains at Panmunjom.
But the U.S. side demanded that the remains be transferred to the "UN Forces" side.
From the technical point of view, the signatories to the agreement are the DPRK and the United States and it is the KPA and the U.S. Department of Defense that are implementing the agreement.
So, the "UN Forces" have no reason to interfere in the transfer of the remains.
The DPRK-U.S. agreement reached in New York in December last year also stipulates that the discovered remains shall be repatriated through Panmunjom. It makes no mention about transfer to the "UN Forces" side.
At the April 3 colonel-level preparatory contact for talks between general officers, the KPA side made clear that it will not have a contact again unless the "UN Forces" side, which has not responded to the talks, changes its position.
The U.S. authorities must know of it.
The United States is inveigling the "UN Forces" in the repatriation of remains, a humanitarian issue which should be solved between the DPRK and the United States, apparently for an ulterior political purpose.
We are willing to render a sincere cooperation for the discovery operations, taking into account their humanitarian nature. But we will never accept the unreasonable demand prompted by a political purpose.