NORTH KOREA NEWSLETTER NO. 159 (May 26, 2011)

*** NEWS IN BRIEF

FIFA Referees Hold Training Session in Pyongyang

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- A group of international FIFA referees recently held a training session in North Korea, according to the country's media.
The (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on May 19 that a FIFA refereeing course was held in Pyongyang's Kim Il-sung Stadium from May 11 to 15. The event was conducted in theoretical and practical workshops.
"The course dealt with the roles of referees and sub-referees, game tactics and analysis, and physical training method of referees," the KCNA said.
The report also said that a separate FIFA-run course on refereeing supervision took place from May 16-17 and was undertaken by FIFA lecturers Azimi Abdullah, Mohamad Rodzali Yacob and Ahmad Khalidi Supian.
FIFA has been offering football-related aid to poor countries since 1999 under its "Goal Project" and has provided a total of US$1.55 million since 2001.

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N. Korea Slams U.S. for Burying Toxic Chemical in S. Korea

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea has intensified its harsh rhetoric against the United States for the latest allegations that massive amounts of leftover toxic chemical Agent Orange were buried at a U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) base in southeastern South Korea in the 1970s.
The North's Central Broadcasting Station reported on May 22 that one of the three American veterans claimed that the U.S. military had buried at least 250 drums of the toxic chemical near a heliport inside Camp Carroll in 1978.
He said about 250 200-liter drums were buried over the first two weeks, and then until the fall, there were a few occasions when 30 to 40 drums were buried at a time.
The allegations surfaced last week after a U.S. television program reported, citing three military veterans, that the USFK secretly buried hundreds of drums of Agent Orange, a substance that was used extensively during the Vietnam War, at Camp Carroll in Chilgok, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in 1978.
The broadcasting station said that the U.S. committed serious crimes during the Vietnam War by spraying huge amounts of defoliant there.
It also claimed that a vast amount of defoliant was sprayed along the demilitarized zone that separates South and North Korea from the late 1960s to 1970s under the approval of the then U.S. Secretary of State.
Due to the ill effects of the defoliant, a large number of "puppet forces" of South Korea, who were mobilized to fight in Vietnam or to become the sprayers of the toxic chemical at the DMZ, were either killed or suffered from various kinds of diseases.
Agent Orange, a powerful toxic herbicide that was widely used in the Vietnam War, is suspected of causing serious health problems, including cancer and genetic damage in some people exposed to it and birth defects in their offspring. The defoliant was contaminated by dioxin, a highly toxic substance.
Expressing wrath at the "hair-raising atrocity of the U.S. forces," the broadcasting station said that the recently disclosed crime is very serious, urging the present South Korean "government" to promptly form a fact-finding group and thoroughly investigate and open to the public the truth about the case.
The disclosure of more crimes committed by the U.S. forces is arousing great concern not only among South Korean inhabitants around the base but also among other members of the society.
The North's prompt reporting of the burial of the toxic defoliant is intended to incite anti-U.S. sentiments among South Koreans as well as North Koreans, and also to denounce the South Korean government for failing to prevent the burial in advance.
In addition, other media such as the KCNA reported that the retired U.S. soldiers who testified of the crime have been suffering from various diseases for 30 years.

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China-N. Korea Friendship Unbeatable: Beijing Political Figure

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- A Chinese political figure who recently visited North Korea said that the alliance between the neighbors yielded an "unbeatable force," stressing that the time-honored ties were stronger than ever.
Chen Zongxing, the vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference who was wrapping up a trip Pyongyang, said that "the China-North Korea friendship had an unbeatable force," the North's Korean Central Broadcasting Station reported on May 23.
Chen and his delegation traveled in Pyongyang from May 16-20 and visited the Tower of the Juche Idea, the Ssuksom Revolutionary Site and other places of historic significance.
In an interview with the KCNA on May 20, Chen said that the Sino-North Korean friendship was "sealed in blood" and that it was growing further under the deep care of their leaders Hu Jintao and Kim Jong-il
The vice chairman also bid well for the North Koreans to "dynamically carry on production and construction under the leadership of Kim Jong-il," according to the KCNA report.

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North Korea Claims Justification of Its Nuclear Development

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Despite the destruction of Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant in March, North Korea has indirectly defended its nuclear development as justifiable, saying the atomic energy development has become a matter of global interests.
The KCNA said on May 24 that the nuclear energy power has become one of global interests, although there are concerns over the safety of atomic power generation after the earthquake devastated the Fukushima plant.
The KCNA report emphasized that solving the energy problem is very important for socio-economic development, saying that many other countries in the world are shifting their policy for nuclear energy development and utilization from the method of using natural energy.
"Nuclear energy attracts enormous attention from the international community as it fulfills energy demands, but does not discharge greenhouse gases that have direct impacts on climate change," the KCNA said.
It added that many countries in the world, such as Russia, Italy, Brazil and China, are pushing hard for economic growth through nuclear energy development.

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U.S. Officials Arrive in Pyongyang for Consultation on Humanitarian Issues

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- A team of U.S. officials arrived in North Korea on May 24, the socialist state's official media said, a trip intended for consultation on "humanitarian issues" between the two longtime foes.
The delegation, led by Robert King, special American ambassador on North Korean human rights, had departed from Beijing hours earlier to arrive in North Korea where it seeks to clarify doubts about Pyongyang's persistent appeals for food aid.
The KCNA said in a single-paragraph report the team arrived in the North Korean capital "by air to consult humanitarian issues" between the sides.
Diplomatic sources in Seoul said earlier in the day King is scheduled to leave North Korea on May 28 while some members of his team will stay there until June 2 or so for a deeper look into food shortages in the impoverished nation of 24 million people.
The trip, purely a fact-finding mission according to the State Department, comes as North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is in China for his third visit in just over a year and tours economic hubs there.
U.S. food aid to the North was suspended in March 2009 amid heightened tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests, and controversy over the transparency of food distribution.
Washington pledged in 2008 to provide 500,000 tons of food, but delivered only 169,000 tons before the shipments were suspended.
The United Nations earlier this year appealed for 430,000 tons of food for North Korea to feed 6 million people stricken by floods and severe winter weather. A U.N. monitoring team concluded a fact-finding mission in North Korea in early April.
South Korea appears to be less willing to resume food aid as critics say North Korea is exaggerating its food shortages to hoard food in preparation for the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, its late leader, in April next year.
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