DPRK-Russia agreement on scientific cooperation signed
Pyongyang, March 26 (KCNA) -- An agreement on scientific cooperation between the DPRK Academy of Sciences and the Siberia branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences was signed in Novosibirsk on March 22.
Present on the occasion were members of the delegation of the DPRK Academy of Sciences headed by vice-president Kang Tong Gun and president of the Siberia branch Nikolai Dobretsov and officials concerned.
Performance of Russian presidential orchestra hailed
Pyongyang, March 26 (KCNA) -- Russian artistes gave their premiere here yesterday delighting the Korean people.
The visiting group of Russian artistes includes the presidential orchestra of the Russian Federation, the chorus of "the Kremlin, Moscow" museum and singers of the State Academy Grand Theatre.
Leader Kim Jong Il invited them to visit Pyongyang.
The presidential orchestra of the Russian Federation is well known to the Korean people for its successful performance given for Kim Jong Il during his visit to Russia in August last year. He was greatly satisfied to see the performance.
The orchestra with a long history encouraged the Soviet army and people with revolutionary and militant music pieces to achieve victory in the patriotic war.
The orchestra is highly proud of participating in the concert given on the Red Square where a military parade was held to celebrate the victory in the war.
The chorus of "the Kremlin, Moscow" museum is recognized as one of the best art organizations in Russia. Its main mission is to ensure state functions together with the presidential orchestra.
Among the Russian artistes are many artistes well-known to the world.
Colonel P. B. Obshankov, composer of the presidential orchestra of the Russian Federation, is its chief conductor and People's Actor of Russia.
Russian Merited Actress l. Rudakova, singer of the State Academy Grand Theatre, is a world famous singer.
She was highly praised by Kim Jong Il for her successful presentation given for him last year.
Among the art envoys of the Kremlin are many talented actors and actresses and artistes of world fame.
When interviewed at the airport, lieutenant general Sergei Streigin, head of the orchestra and commander of the garrison of the Kremlin, said that they came to Pyongyang carrying with them the deep respect of the Russian President for Kim Jong Il.
The orchestra would present the same numbers as were performed for Kim Jong Il in Moscow last year, he added.
Indonesian President to visit DPRK
Pyongyang, March 26 (KCNA) -- Megawati Soekarnoputri, President of the Republic of Indonesia, will shortly pay an official goodwill visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea at the invitation of Kim Yong Nam, President of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly.
U.S-S. Korea joint maneuvers attacked worldwide
Pyongyang, March 26 (KCNA) -- Bulgarian and Ugandan organizations condemned the U.S. and the South Korean authorities for their aggressive large-scale joint military exercises.
The Bulgaria-Korea Friendship Association and the Bulgarian Committee for Supporting Korea's Reunification said in a joint statement on March 20 that the current joint maneuvers surpass the "Team Spirit" joint military exercises in scale while causing a grave situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Such reckless military provocations made by bush and the South Korean authorities may spark off a war, the statement said, adding: This is scuttling the agreed points of the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration for Korea's reunification.
The Uganda-DPRK Friendship Association in its statement on March 21 demanded that the U.S. stop its hostile policy toward the DPRK and withdraw its aggression forces from South Korea at once. The statement also urged the South Korean war hawks to refrain from joining in the U.S. moves to stifle their fellow countrymen by force of arms and stop all deeds of going against the spirit of the joint declaration.
Successes in geological prospecting
Pyongyang, March 26 (KCNA) -- Deposits of gold, silver, lead, zinc, nickel, tungsten and natural fertilizer were recently surveyed in different parts of the DPRK.
Detailed prospecting of five districts led to designating the sites to be developed.
The western regional iron ore prospecting team surveyed and confirmed the deposits of cerium and rare-earth elements and found out bodies of lead and zinc.
North Hwanghae Province surveyed at least 10 kinds of underground resources, secured 12 sites for prospecting and development and completed a topographical map necessary for the evaluation of ore seams.
It succeeded in surveying a deposit of sapropelic coal believed to be millions of tons.
A scientific systematization of the character of the geological composition in Pongsan and Unpha areas resulted in discovering new ore bodies.
A nonferrous metal vein of rich content was struck in Musan area, North Hamgyong Province.
A prospecting team in South Hamgyong Province intensified detailed prospecting of Kumya area, thus finding out mineral deposits needed for the production of calcium hydroxide and magnesium fertilizer.
Anecdotes about Kim Il Sung
Pyongyang, March 26 (KCNA) -- President Kim Il Sung was presiding over a cabinet session in January Juche 46 (1957).
He asked an official which part of the state budget included educational aid fund and stipends for sons and daughters of Korean residents in Japan. The official told him that financial situation was so difficult that it would be involved in an extraordinary plan of foreign currency.
At that time a large amount of money was needed to catapult the economy which was devastated during the war.
The president earnestly told the official that money should be continuously sent to Koreans toiling in an alien land for education of their children even though one or two factories were not built.
A new item "educational aid fund and stipends for sons and daughters of Korean residents in Japan" has since been put in the state budget.
One day in October Juche 52 (1963) a woman came to a unit of the people's army where her daughter was serving.
Upon hearing this news, the president called the girl soldier and told her that her mother came to see her in military uniform and they might look round the city next day and that he would take a lunch with them.
Under his loving care she went on a trip to her hometown according to an itinerary made by him.
There is another anecdote about his noble personality.
Early in February Juche 45 (1956) he went to a mine. He first dropped in at a nursery of the mine and learned about the actual condition.
It was not long after the end of the war, so that hygienic and cultural conditions of the nursery were not so good.
He admonished the officials not to boast of the mine's big prospect only but to value children who would shoulder the future of the mine. He instructed the officials to change the newly built office rooms of the party committee into the nursery.
Therefore, the bright and vast office rooms were turned into a nursery.
Russian presidential orchestra gives its premiere
Pyongyang, March 26 (KCNA) -- The visiting Russian presidential orchestra gave its premiere at the April 25 House of Culture yesterday.
Enjoying the performance were vice marshal of the Korean People's Army Kim Il Chol, vice-chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK and minister of the People's Armed Forces, Jong Ha Chol, secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, artistes and working people in the city.
Also among the audience were lieutenant general Sergei Streigin, commander of the garrison of the Kremlin in Moscow, Russian ambassador to the DPRK Andrei Karlov and staff members of the embassy.
The performance raised its curtain with the playing of the national anthems of the DPRK and the Russian Federation.
Russian artistes put on the stage solos, choruses and orchestras.
The performers vividly represented themes and content of songs with peculiar tone color and rich voice.
Female soloist Pudakova sang well Korean song "It is socialist land of bliss" in Korean, delighting the audience. She was highly praised by leader Kim Jong Il for singing well at a performance given for him last year.
Russian artistes represented in a peculiar manner the Russian people's warm love for their country, their traditional way of life and national emotion in choruses "Kalinka" and "Gloria" and other numbers.
Modern village built
Pyongyang, March 26 (KCNA) -- There is Poman-ri in Sohung county, North Hwanghae Province, by one side of the Pyongyang-Kaesong Motorway.
With some 100 houses and public buildings standing in rows at the foot of a sunny hill, a fish farm covering scores of hectares and realigned paddy fields of standardized shapes, the village reminds one of a fairyland.
A house for one family has three living-rooms and a drawing room with a bathroom attached. It has also a store, toilet and pens suited to the rural conditions.
Two power stations capable of producing several hundreds of kw of electricity were built in the Sohung River flowing through the paddy fields. It is providing lighting and heating service to the fish farm and the seat of the ri.
On the hill behind the village there is an orchard covering scores of hectares where fruit trees come into bloom in spring and bear rich fruits in autumn.
Leader Kim Jong Il looked round the fish farm, dwelling houses and power stations in last July and praised it as a land of bliss in the era of the workers' party.
U.S.-S. Korea joint military exercises denounced
Pyongyang, March 26 (KCNA) -- More rallies were held in various parts of the DPRK to condemn the large-scale joint military exercises of the U.S. imperialists and the South Korean warmongers.
Speakers at the rallies held at the Ryongsong Machine Complex, the June 4 Rolling-Stock Factory, Kim Hyong Jik University of Education and Sariwon University of Geology termed the unprecedented war exercises being staged by the U.S. imperialists, the sworn enemy of the Korean people, and their stooges very brigandish and vicious moves to destroy the man-centered socialist system, the life and soul of the Korean people, and deprive the Korean working class of an independent and creative life.
The U.S. imperialists and their stooges are working hard to unleash a war against the north, while staging large-scale joint military exercises but this is no more than the desperate efforts of fools, they said, adding that the DPRK has a will and capability strong enough to mercilessly strike and wipe out any intruders into the DPRK no matter from where they are coming.
Anti-DPRK war gambles slammed
Pyongyang, March 26 (KCNA) -- The joint military maneuvers, now being staged by the war hawks at home and abroad, are an aggressive war game aimed at a surprise attack on the DPRK, says Rodong Sinmun today in a commentary.
Those warmongers are describing the joint military exercises as "defensive", but it is no more than sophism to cover up their offensive nature, the news analyst says, and goes on:
It is as clear as noonday that the exercises conducted by the U.S. imperialists and the South Korean bellicose elements are intended to stifle the DPRK by military muscle. but, they are seriously mistaken.
The Korean people are not so a weak nation as it was. under the care of the ironwilled commander, the army and people of Korea have grown to be invincible army and people with high self-respect and guts and strength enough to defeat any aggressors.
The present anti-DPRK moves of the U.S. imperialists bring home to the Korean people the validity of the army-based policy shaped by the Workers' Party of Korea, which has cemented the fortress of revolution as firm as a rock, and harden their determination to bravely fight against the enemies and make them pay a high price for their crimes.
If the U.S. imperialists and the South Korean warmongers unleash a war against the DPRK, it will lead them to self-destruction.
U.S. warned against its hardline policy toward DPRK
Pyongyang, March 26 (KCNA) -- If the U.S. imperialist aggressors spark off another Korean War, it will mean a dead march of Americans and bring a miserable end to the "only superpower", warns Rodong Sinmun today in a signed commentary.
After listing the DPRK as "part of an axis of evil", Bush visited South Korea to examine war preparations. And a U.S. "nuclear posture review" was disclosed before the ongoing largest U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises were launched. The facts go to prove that the DPRK is a main target of the U.S. imperialists' "anti-terrorism" strategy, an aggressive world strategy, and war hysteria of the hawkish Bush group seeking to stifle the DPRK by force of arms has reached an extremity, the commentary says, and goes on:
The U.S. warmongers are seeking to browbeat the DPRK, posing a threat of nuclear attack and kicking up a war racket. But it will only heighten the Korean army and people's spirit of national independence and harden their will to annihilate the enemy.
Our army and people respect Kim Jong Il, the peerlessly brilliant commander, as the great leader and supreme commander.
Our revolutionary armed forces, once an order is issued in the event of emergency, will reduce all the aggressors to forlorn wandering spirits with the mobilization of all their potentials.
The DPRK, where all the people have been armed and every part of which has been turned into an impregnable fortress, has nothing to fear and will remain impervious to any attack of aggressors.
The Korean army and people regard the U.S. imperialist warmongers' frantic military maneuvers as nothing but a military game staged by those who look like a puppy knowing no fear of the tiger. But they strongly assert that the DPRK should demonstrate its military might to those war hawks and settle accounts with them this time.
Their hearts are burning with anti-U.S. sentiment and revengeful thought.
The hawkish Bush group should renounce its arbitrary practices and wild dream for hegemony and drop its anti-DPRK hardline policy, if it is concerned about the destiny and future of the United States.
Timber production on increase
Pyongyang, March 26 (KCNA) -- The production of timber has recently seen great progress in Korea. According to government statistics, production at facilities managed by the Ministry of Forestry increased by 57.2 per cent in the first two months of this year compared with the same period of last year.
Ten forestry stations and mine prop companies and 60 timber stations beat their annual targets ahead of schedule.
Officials of the ministry and lumberjacks in the provinces set the target of carrying out 70-75 per cent of their annual plan during the winter season. To this end, they formed an extra 170 workteams and tapped all possible sources to secure the necessary materials and spare parts. They also introduced new methods to improve efficiency.
Cableways and other means of transport are in full operation, boosting the relay transportation of timber.
The Jagang Provincial Forestry Complex has taken the lead in the increased timber production: four forestry and 31 timber stations have already met their 2002 targets. The complex was the first to hit its first-half production target.
Yonam, Phungso and some other forestry stations under the Ryanggang Provincial Forestry Complex exceeded their first-quarter targets by February 16.
The provincial Forestry Complexes in South Hamgyong and South Phyongan are also increasing production by making effective use of investment to suit their particular situations.
SPA chairman back home
Pyongyang, March 26 (KCNA) -- Choe Thae Bok, chairman of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, and his party, who had visited Russia, came back home today.
They were greeted at the airport by vice-chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly Jang Chol and Russian ambassador to the DPRK Andrei Karlov.
Mongolian party delegation arrives
Pyongyang, March 26 (KCNA) -- A delegation of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party led by its General Secretary D. Idevkhten arrived here today.
It was greeted at the airport by Pak Kyong Son, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, officials concerned and Mongolian ambassador to the DPRK Janchivdorjyn Lombo.
Talks held between WPK and MPRP delegations
Pyongyang, March 26 (KCNA) -- Talks between the delegations of the Workers' Party of Korea and the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party were held in Pyongyang today.
At the talks, the two sides informed each other of the activities of their parties and exchanged views on boosting the friendly relations between the two parties and the two countries and on a series of matters of common concern.
Present at the talks on the DPRK side were secretary of the WPK Central Committee Kim Ki Nam and officials concerned and on the Mongolian side were members of the delegation led by D. Idevkhten, General Secretary of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, and Janchivdorjyn Lombo, Mongolian ambassador to the DPRK.
The talks proceeded in a friendly atmosphere.