North Korea’s highest state body refutes UN Security Council resolution

[The following statement by North Korea’s highest ruling body, the National Defence Commission (NDC) responds to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2087, which was passed unanimously with Chinese support on Tuesday, 22 January 2013. The NDC response was published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Thursday, 24 January 2013. –CanKor]

DPRK NDC Issues Statement Refuting UNSC Resolution

Officials of the DPRK NDC (Photo by AP)

Our successful launch of satellite Kwangmyongsong 3-2 was a great jubilee in the history of the nation as it placed the nation’s dignity and honor on the highest plane and a spectacular success made in the efforts to develop space for peaceful purposes recognized by the world.

The world people who love justice and value conscience unanimously rejoice as their own over the signal success made by our country, not a big one, by its own efforts.

Even space institutions of a hostile country accustomed to have repugnancy towards others could not but recognize the DPRK’s successful satellite launch for peaceful purposes, from a low-profile stance.

DPRK Business Monthly Volume III, No.11

The DPRK Business Monthly, an international business report edited in Beijing, has been made available to CanKor readers by its editor, Paul White. Please check the  current December 2012 edition here: DPRK Business Monthly Vol III, No.11

Titles of articles found in this issue include:

• DPRK-China Trade Up 62%
• German NGO Research Institute of Organic Agriculture
• Kempinski to Manage Ryugyong Hotel
• Mongolia Eyes Rajin Port Access
• Book Review: A Capitalist in North Korea by Felix Abt

…plus a number of other items, including a selection of North Korean tours by various tour operators.

Comment by the Business Monthly Editor:

While blogs and tabloid newspapers had a field day with North Korea’s supposed announcement that it had discovered a “unicorn lair,” more responsible journalists pointed out that “unicorn” is one of many English translations of the word “Kirin.” This is the name of a mythical beast in Asian folklore, along with the dragon and the phoenix. In fact, KCNA itself pointed this out. Calling a cave a “Kirin cave” is no stranger than calling a peak “Dragon Peak” or a valley “Dragon Valley.”

The aim of the report was to offer the inscription “Kiringul” as evidence that King Tongmyong, the founder of the Koguryo kingdom (37 BC-668 AD) set up his capital near Pyongyang. This is understandable given the importance the DPRK and the ROK attach to claiming the allegiance of all Koreans. There are legends associated with the king, including one that he rode a Kirin.

If that was all there was to it, it would be hardly worth mentioning. But it is important to note that much reporting hostile to the DPRK will by accident — or design — pick on a clumsy translation to sneer at the North Koreans and present a misleading picture of the place.

Please feel free to consult the full issue by clicking on this link: DPRK Business Monthly Vol III, No.11

Related articles

• DPRK Business Monthly Volume III, No.10 (CanKor.ca)
• DPRK Business Monthly Volume III, No.9 (CanKor.ca)
• DPRK Business Monthly Volume III, No.8 (CanKor.ca)
• DPRK Business Monthly Volume III, No.7 (CanKor.ca)
• DPRK Business Monthly Volume III, No.6 (CanKor.ca)

The Canada-DPRK Knowledge Partnership Programme, by Park Kyung-Ae

[CanKor Brain Trust member Park Kyung-Ae has for the second year in a row hosted six DPRK economics professors for further study in Western-style economics at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. This article about the Canada-DPRK Knowledge Partnership Programme (KPP) was first published on our partner-site 38North. –CanKor]

Knowledge sharing is a powerful tool to promote economic growth and improve quality of life in developing countries. It gives participants access not only to practical information, but the worldview, motivations, and experiences of their partners. Sharing of this nature facilitates mutual understanding between individuals that, in turn, builds empathy, compassion, and patience—the foundation for all relationships, whether between individuals or states. Knowledge partnerships that focus on human resource development through various academic and practical programs can be one of the most successful areas of cooperation between North Korea and the outside world. Such programs are particularly important in this context because they create alternative, non-governmental avenues for dialogue that can remain active when the political environment limits official lines of communication.

DPRK delegation visits Beijing

[This article by Ding Qingfen and Li Xiaokun appeared in China Daily, 14 August 2012. –CanKor]

Trip may signal move to boost battered economy, experts say.

The new PRC/DPRK economic zone: Hwanggumphyong Island, Wihwa Island, and Sin Island. [Google Earth 2010]

A delegation from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is visiting Beijing to hold talks with officials on economic and trade ties, sources told China Daily.

Specialists in Korean Peninsula affairs said the visit will play a crucial part in improving the DPRK economy following food shortages and severe flooding.

Members of the delegation will attend a conference on Tuesday, sources said, covering the two DPRK special economic zones involving both countries.

One of the DPRK special economic zones is in Rason, and the other is located on the Hwanggumphyong and Wihwa islands.

The delegation is also expected to visit Liaoning and Jilin, two border provinces.

Jang Song-thaek, vice-chairman of the National Defense Commission of the DPRK, is leading the delegation, a source said on condition of anonymity.

DPRK’s Satellite Launch Not Contradictory to DPRK-U.S. Agreement — KCNA

[The following article appeared on KCNA (Korean Central News Agency), North Korea’s official international news outlet. In contrast to most Western news outlets and pronouncements by the Republic of Korea and the US State Department, North Korea claims that the intended launch of an earth-orbiting satellite to mark the 100th anniversary of founding President Kim Il Sung’s birth does not contradict the DPRK’s unilateral moratorium on missile tests. In fact, in an unusual concession to international concern, the DPRK has released details about the timing of the launch and its intended trajectory on a similar path as South Korea’s attempted satellite launch in 2009. In addition–again unprecedented–the DPRK has invited international observers to the launch. It is also interesting to note that although the US negotiators have since before Kim Jong Il’s death warned that such a launch would be in contravention of UN sanctions, this article blames only the South Korean government and President Lee Myung-bak for the furor over its decision. –CanKor]

Taepodong-2 missile (photo by KCNA)

Pyongyang, March 19 (KCNA) — The south Korean puppet forces are busy with an odd smear campaign over the issue of DPRK’s launch of Kwangmyongsong-3.

Afloat on Saturday alone were rumors aimed to disturb negotiations between the DPRK and the U.S.

Dong-A Ilbo said “the north reduced the north Korea-U.S. agreement to a scrap of paper in 15 days”. Kukmin Ilbo asserted “this is little short of violating the agreement reached at the DPRK-U.S. high-level talks even before the ink of their signature was dry” and KBS noted “this showed the north’s will to take initiative, while boosting its negotiating power”, etc.

Then why are they claiming the satellite to be launched by the DPRK is an inter-continental ballistic missile and it is a violation of the agreement reached at the DPRK-U.S. high-level talks on February 29?

DPRK to Launch “Application Satellite” – KCNA

[The following is billed as “major news” on KCNA (Korean Central News Agency), North Korea’s official international news outlet. The intended launch of an “application satellite” is timed to mark the 100th anniversary of founding President Kim Il Sung’s birth. The article claims that the DPRK “will strictly abide by relevant international regulations and usage concerning the launch of scientific and technological satellites for peaceful purposes” and that “a safe flight orbit has been chosen so that carrier rocket debris to be generated during the flight would not have any impact on neighboring countries.”  

Unha-2 rocket, 2009 (photo by KCNA)

The announcement has surprised especially the USA, coming only days after an agreement was reached between the two countries that included the North Korean promise of a moratorium on missile tests. Victoria Nuland, US State Department Spokesperson, issued the following statement from Washington: “North Korea’s announcement that it plans to conduct a missile launch in direct violation of its international obligations is highly provocative. UN Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 1874 clearly and unequivocally prohibit North Korea from conducting launches that use ballistic missile technology. Such a missile launch would pose a threat to regional security and would also be inconsistent with North Korea’s recent undertaking to refrain from long-range missile launches. We call on North Korea to adhere to its international obligations, including all relevant UN Security Council Resolutions. We are consulting closely with our international partners on next steps.”

Considering that it was the arms race between the USA and the USSR that gave the impetus for the race into space, there is obviously a continuing (purposeful) disconnect in understanding the difference between a satellite launch and a missile test. –CanKor]

Pyongyang, March 16 (KCNA) — The DPRK is to launch a working satellite, Kwangmyongsong-3, manufactured by itself with indigenous technology to mark the 100th birth anniversary of President Kim Il Sung.

Results of DPRK-USA Talks as Announced by the DPRK Foreign Ministry

[This is the text published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang, 29 February 2012. It is obvious that announcement of the  agreements had been synchronized by the two sides to be issued at the same time. The exact wording and emphasis differ in the two versions. For example, the US statement makes no mention of the 6-Party Talks, nor of the “priority” of discussing the lifting of sanctions and the provision of light water reactors. Nevertheless, the main features of the agreements, relating to the nuclear and missile moratorium and the provision of nutritional assistance, are virtually the same. –CanKor]

The spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on Wednesday gave the following answer as regards questions raised by KCNA concerning the result of the latest DPRK-U.S. high-level talks:

A paramilitary policeman stands guard in front of the North Korean embassy ahead of bilateral talks between North Korea and the U.S., in Beijing February 23, 2012. (Photo: Reuters, Jason Lee)

Delegations of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States of America (U.S.) met in Beijing, China on 23rd and 24th of February for the third round of the high-level talks between the DPRK and the U.S.

Present at the talks were the delegation of the DPRK headed by Kim Kye Gwan, the First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the delegation of the U.S. headed by Glyn Davies, the Special Representative of the State Department for the DPRK Policy.

The talks, continuation of the two previous DPRK-U.S. high-level talks held respectively in July and October, 2011, offered a venue for sincere and in-depth discussion of issues concerning the measures aimed at building confidence for the improvement of relations between the DPRK and the U.S. as well as issues related with ensuring peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and resumption of the six-party talks.

Death of Kim Jong Il: Official DPRK Announcement

Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un (Reuters)

[Official statement as it appeared on the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), 19 December 2011 — CanKor]

The Central Committee and the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly and the Cabinet of the DPRK on Saturday announced the following notice to all party members, servicepersons and people:

The Central Committee and the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly and the Cabinet of the DPRK notify with bitterest grief to all the party members, servicepersons and people of the DPRK that Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK and supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army, passed away of a sudden illness at 08: 30 on December 17, Juche 100 (2011) on his way to field guidance.

He dedicated all his life to the inheritance and accomplishment of the revolutionary cause of Juche and energetically worked day and night for the prosperity of the socialist homeland, happiness of people, reunification of the country and global independence. He passed away too suddenly to our profound regret.

DPRK Flood Damage Reports by KCNA

[Heavy rains in the past weeks have caused considerable flood damage in both parts of the Korean Peninsula. The DPRK Permanent Mission to the UN in New York has provided CanKor with a collection of articles appearing in the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that describe the damage caused to cropland, dwellings and industrial buildings. As of 28 July, the human toll of the floods was 23 lives lost, 8 injured, 4 missing and 8860 homeless. An appended spreadsheet itemizes losses and damage per city, county and province. See DPRK Data on Flood Damage-updated on Jul 28-2011. For pictures and a video of  some of the damage, see DPRK Hit by Heavy Rain Again on the new KCNA website. –CanKor.]

Photo by KCNA

DPRK Hit by Heavy Rain Again 

Pyongyang, July 28 (KCNA) — Many areas of the DPRK have been seriously affected by heavy rainfalls again.

According to data available for the Hydro-meteorological Service, 100-500mm torrential rains came down in some areas of North and South Hwanghae, Kangwon and South Hamgyong provinces and Kaesong City from around 00:00 Tuesday to noon Thursday.

It rained 564mm, 469mm, 339mm and 337mm in South Hwanghae Province’s Chongdan, Pongchon and Kangryong counties and Haeju City respectively. And it rained 397mm in Kaesong City and 343mm, 333mm, 328mm in Kangwon Province’s Sepho, Phyonggang and Changdo counties respectively and 341mm in Phyongsan County, North Hwanghae Province.

The downpours severely damaged economic sectors in the afflicted areas. An initial survey shows more than 36 000 hectares of cropland were flooded in South Hwanghae Province, some 20 000 hectares of them being submerged. Thousands of dwelling houses and hundreds of industrial establishments, schools and public buildings were destroyed.

DPRK Business Monthly Volume II, No. 5

The DPRK Business Monthly, an international business report edited in Beijing, has been made available to CanKor readers by its editor, Paul White. Please check the June 2011 edition here: DPRK Business Monthly June 2011. 

Titles of articles found in this issue include:

• Ground Broken for Yalu Border Free Trade Zone
• NK to Experiment with Free Market Practices
• Mongolia Eyes NK Ports
• NK-China Joint Venture Doing Well
• Mount Kumgang Beckons Overseas Investors
• Good Times Over for ROK Businesses Eyeing North
• Seoul Offered FTA to Pyongyang: ROK Ex-Trade Official
• ROK Catholics Pray for Better Seoul-P’yang Ties
• Swiss Conductor Hopes for NK-ROK Youth Concert
• Clavis Develops RFID-Enabled Asset Tracking System for Kaesong
• NK Leases Rajin Pier to Swiss

… and a number of other items, including a selection of North Korean tours by various tour operators.

Please feel free to consult the full issue by clicking on this link: DPRK Business Monthly June 2011