Weekly on North Korea (Feb
Internal Affairs
Chairman Kim Jong-il visited army unit 120, army unit 226, and air unit 991 as well as army unit 1522. According to the Pyongyang Broadcasting Station on Feb. 18, he also watched a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra and gave on-site inspection to the `Muncheon Geumgang Refinery', according to the Central Broadcasting Station on Feb. 26.
North Korea held the `3rd Three Revolutionary Red Flag Movement Meeting for Pioneers' in the April 25 Hall of Culture from Feb. 23 to 24 and closed the meeting after the adoption of a letter of appeal to the entire party members and workers.
`The Mt. Baekdu Athletic Games' were held from Feb. 9 to 28 in the city of Pyongyang and Samjiyeon county. The Games were held as part of athletic events commemorating the birthday of Kim Jong-il on Feb. 16. With around 30 kinds of games being held, teams from each province and city participated in the Games.
On the 60th anniversary of the Tree-Planting Day on Mar. 2, North Korea held several rallies about planting trees during spring and North Korean people actually planted trees. Sin Seong-chan, Director of the Ministry of Land Environment Protection unveiled a national forestation plan, according to the Central Broadcasting Station on Mar. 2.
Announcing the enactment of the Law on the Assessment of Environmental Effects, according to the Central Broadcasting Station on Feb. 21, North Korea claimed that this Law would serve as a legal measure to make North Korea a Socialist beautiful country, which has scenic and good environments to live in.
Inter-Korean Affairs
North Korea kept lashing out criticisms against the South Korean authorities regarding the issue of flexible deployment of the U.S. army stationed in South Korea, U.S.-ROK joint military exercise, South Korea's decision to participate in the U.S. Proliferation Security Initiative as an observer.
Emphasizing Wooriminjokkiri (by our nation alone), grand national unity and inter-Korean solidarity, North Korea urged South Korean people to pose struggles for anti-America, anti-war and safeguard for peace, and ones against South Korean conservative forces, including the Grand National Party, an opposition party in South Korea.
The South and North held the 7th Inter-Korean Red Cross Talks at Mt.Geumgang from Feb. 21 to 23. With the adoption of a seven-point agreement, the two Koreas agreed to include an issue of confirmation of the fates of those missing during and after the Korean War in a broader category of separated families, to consult on and to resolve the issue.
`The National Joint Committee for the Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration' held a working-level meeting in Gaeseong from Feb. 24 to 25 and released a five-point Joint Announcement, including a proposal to set a commemorative day for the June 15 Joint Declaration, which had been adopted during the first Inter-Korean Summit Meeting in 2000.
The Fourth Video Reunion for Separated Families was carried out from Feb. 27 to 28.
Foreign Affairs
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson, through his statement, claimed that America pressed the South Korean authorities for agreeing on the flexible deployment of U.S. army stationed in South Korea, in order to pose preemptive strikes against North Korea, according to the Central and Pyongyang Broadcasting Station on Feb. 21.
Stating that the North is a victim of the manufacturing and distribution of counterfeiting U.S. notes, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson insisted that the U.S.' lift of financial sanctions on the North be the best policy, according to the Central and Pyongyang Broadcasting Station on Mar. 1. Prior to the statement, the spokesperson stated that the North would actively participate in the anti-money laundering campaign while emphasizing expected difficulties toward a resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue in case of the U.S.' continued sanctions during the press conference on Feb. 9.
Around the 130th anniversary of the Kwanghwa agreement which was reached between Korea and Japan on Feb. 27, 1876, the North Korea released a barrage of criticisms against Japan, citing the examples of Japan's invasive character.
The North Korean Institute of Law from the Academy of Social Sciences, discussing cases of the U.S.' human rights abuses, released a letter of accusation, according the Central and Pyongyang Broadcasting Station on Feb. 20.
1.Chairman Kim Jong-il's on-site inspection visit to the Muncheon Geumgang Refinery
Following Kim Il-sung's directions, North Korea constructed the Muncheon Geumgang Refinery with the production capacity of 30,000 metric tons of zinc, a ton of gold and so on in 1981.
North Korea's non-iron metal production has been showing a sign of recovery, albeit a minimal increase since 2003 after North Korea introduced an incentive system through the 7.1 Economic Reform Measures. However, several factors, such as backward technology, limit on expansion as well as renovation of facilities, and energy shortage, have hindered North Korea from reaping expected results.
(unit: 10,000 ton)
|
`90
|
`95
|
`96
|
`97
|
`98
|
`99
|
`00
|
`01
|
`02
|
`03
|
`04
|
|
24.1
|
15.4
|
11.8
|
10.8
|
9.7
|
11.1
|
9.6
|
9.2
|
8.7
|
9.4
|
9.8
|
Non-iron metals are basic components of machineries, electrical as well as electronic goods, and military industry with economy-wide spillover effects. Non-iron metals, one of North Korea's major export items, have served as a source for earning hard currency. Chairman Kim Jong-il's visit to the Refinery appeared to intend to promote increase in their export volume through the normalization of production in non-iron metals. The export volume of non-iron metals increased by an annual growth rate of 13.8 percent from 11.5 million U.S. $ in 2001 to 62 million U.S. $ in 2004.
