NORTH KOREA NEWSLETTER NO. 158

(May 19, 2011) *** NEWS IN BRIEF N. Korean Leader Back in Heels Again During Inspection Tour SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has recently begun sporting his trademark high-heeled shoes again, a development that could raise an intriguing question about whether his health has improved. Kim had sported high-heeled shoes that increased his height to what is believed to be 162 centimeters, or about 5'3", before he reportedly suffered a stroke in 2008. Since then, he has switched to sneakers and flat dress shoes. But a photo released by the KCNA on May 14 showed Kim wearing a pair of shoes with 2- to 3-cm-high heels during an inspection tour. These heels are bit lower than those on the shoes he had previously donned during official events, including his summit with then South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun in 2007 when Kim wore shoes with 6- to 7-cm-high heels. The reappearance of Kim's signature shoes may signal that his health has improved, though details were not immediately available. ------------------------ N. Korea Claims Seoul Making up Stories to Raise Tension SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea on May 15 denied its involvement in the sinking of a South Korean warship last year that killed 46 sailors, again claiming the Seoul government was making up stories to raise tension and direct the attention of the South Korean public away from its own failures or wrongdoings. "It was disclosed before the whole world that the 'Cheonan' warship case was the most hideous conspiratorial case aimed to escalate the confrontation with compatriots, but the group of traitors are still floating the above-said story," an inspection group of the North's National Defense Commission said in a statement carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency. It was the third installment of a statement released earlier by the group, accusing Seoul of fabricating the North's involvement in the sinking of the South Korean warship near the western maritime border between the divided Koreas in March 2010. "The Cheonan case timed to coincide with the situation where they felt the urgent need to create serious 'security concern' in a bid to put off the transfer of the right to command wartime operations by inventing a pretext for the permanent U.S. presence in South Korea," the North Korean statement said. Seoul had offered the North a chance, along with the latter's allies China and Russia, to inspect its evidence of the North's involvement in the Cheonan incident following the end of an international probe into the case last year. Pyongyang rejected the offer. Beijing and Moscow received briefings from Seoul, and neither has raised any official objection to the findings by the international investigation team. The renewed claim from the socialist nation was apparently prompted by the result of a recent investigation by the South Korean prosecution into the hacking and crippling of a banking network of South Korea's National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, or Nonghyup, that concluded it was the result of a cyber attack from the North. "The story about 'the North's involvement' in the above-said cyber attack was faked up at a time when the Chongwadae and the 'Grand National Party' were locked in a fierce dog fight, blaming each other for the shameful defeat they suffered in the April 27 by-election due to the public condemnation of their unpopular rule," the North's statement said, referring to South Korea's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae. "All facts indicate that the fourth and fifth anti-DPRK (North Korea) charades may be orchestrated as long as the group of traitors is working hard to stoke confrontation between the North and the South," it said. "We strongly urge the group of traitors to own responsibility for faking up the conspiratorial farces doing harm to the fellow countrymen and make an official apology before the nation." ------------------------ North Korea Holds International Trade Fair in Pyongyang SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea recently opened an international trade show, a media report said, bringing several companies from different countries to the socialist nation's largest trade fair. The KCNA on May 16 reported that the 14th Pyongyang Spring International Trade Fair opened at the Three-Revolution Exhibition. An opening ceremony held on the same day was attended by Vice Premier Kang Sok-ju, Foreign Trade Minister Ri Ryong-nam and other top officials. A total of 16 companies from foreign countries, including China, Germany, Malaysia and Mongolia, took part in the exhibition. Vice Foreign Trade Minister O Ryong-chol, along with Kim Mun-jong, director of the (North) Korean International Exhibition Corporation, and other speakers at the opening ceremony, said they hoped the companies would "gain good success through broad contacts" in North Korea. They also said North Korea will "further economic and cooperative relations with other countries on the principles of equality and mutual benefits." The spring fair, the North's largest trade fair, has been held since 1998. An autumn fair was added to the annual event in 2005. ------------------------ North Korean Premier Choe Yong-rim Inspects Regional Farms SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korean Premier Choe Yong-rim recently inspected farms throughout South Hwanghae Province and consulted on ways to support the farming industry, according to a media report. The (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on May 17 that Choe visited farms in the province's Jaeryong, Kangryong, Yonan and Paechon counties from May 13 to 15. During meetings with local farmers, Choe stressed that "measures were taken for the Cabinet and relevant units to aid the farming in the province," the report said. Choe called on farmers and local government organizations to "implement important tasks given by leader Kim Jong-il," the report said. ------------------------ North Korean Leader Meets Russian Foreign Intelligence Chief SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il recently held talks with the head of Russia's foreign intelligence agency, according to a media report. The KCNA reported on May 17 that Kim met with the visiting delegation of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, led by Director Mikhail Fradkov. The report said U Tong-chuk, a member of the Political Bureau of the ruling party's Central Committee, and Kim Kye-gwan, first-vice minister, were present at the meeting, but it did not elaborate on what they discussed. The KCNA said the Russians presented gifts for Kim and his heir apparent son, Kim Jong-un. Kim, in return, thanked the delegation. Gifts are often presented to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il from visiting foreign dignitaries, but this marked the second instance in which Kim Jong-un too was presented with a gift. The last time the heir apparent received a gift was from Meng Jianzu, China's public security minister, in February. ------------------------ North Korea Renews Its Denuclearization Commitment: Report SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea's top diplomat renewed Pyongyang's pledge to carry out arrangements for denuclearization, a news report said, as a senior U.S. official was visiting Seoul for talks with South Korean officials to discuss stalled talks on ending the North's nuclear weapons programs. "We are ready to honor the Sept. 19 Joint Statement aimed at denuclearization of the entire Korean Peninsula under the principle of synchronous actions," North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun said on May 17 in an interview with Russia's Itar-Tass news agency in Pyongyang. Pak referred to the landmark deal reached with the United States, South Korea and other regional powers in 2005, in which the North pledged to give up its nuclear weapons programs in return or economic aid and political concessions. Pak also said North Korea will exert efforts for an early resumption of the nuclear talks it quit in 2009, noting denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is the behest of North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung, the late father of current leader Kim Jong-il. The North has repeatedly expressed its interest in returning to the talks, but its refusal to take responsibility for its two deadly attacks last year on South Korea has hindered diplomatic efforts to revive the talks that include the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan. Pak's comments came as officials of Seoul and Washington discussed ways to advance the nuclear talks. Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special envoy on North Korea policies, met with the top South Korean nuclear envoy on May 17.