ID :
204697
Thu, 09/01/2011 - 12:54
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https://oananews.org//node/204697
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NORTH KOREA NEWSLETTER NO. 173 (September 1, 2011)
*** NEWS IN BRIEF
N. Korea's Media Reports Kim Jong-il's Visit to Russia, China
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea's state media reported on Aug. 28 that Kim Jong-il returned home by train the previous day and was welcomed by his heir apparent after a "successful" visit to Russia and China.
The North's reclusive leader on Aug. 27 wrapped up his weeklong visits to Russia and China, during which he discussed the resumption of stalled six-party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions and economic cooperation projects.
Kim "returned home on Aug. 27, accompanied by the suite members, after successfully winding up his visit" to Russia and China, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
Kim "was warmly greeted at the border railway station by Kim Jong-un," the 69-year-old North Korean leader's youngest son and leader-in-waiting, the KCNA added.
The report confirmed that the heir apparent was absent from the entourage on Kim's trip to Russia and China.
Kim began the two-nation trip by train on Aug. 20. Making his first visit to Russia in nearly a decade, he held a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and reportedly expressed his willingness to rejoin the six-party talks.
The trip to Russia included a tour of a hydroelectric plant and the summit with the Russian president on Aug. 24 in Ulan-Ude, a Siberian city near Baikal.
On his way home from Russia, Kim entered China on Aug. 25 and toured industrial facilities in Qiqihar, a hub of automobile industries, and Daqing, home to China's largest oilfield. He also held talks with Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo in Daqing.
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Kim Jong-il Attends Banquet Honoring His Trip to Russia, China
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il attended a banquet held to congratulate him on his "successful" recent visits to Russia and China, the North's state media said on Aug. 29.
The banquet was hosted by the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party and the National Defense Commission, according to a brief dispatch by the KCNA, monitored in Seoul. It did not mention where or when the event took place.
Kim returned home on Aug. 27 after an eight-day trip aboard his special armored train across Russia's Far East and northeastern China. The trip included summit talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev near the Siberian city of Ulan-Ude on Aug. 24 and tours of various industrial sites in both countries.
Kim's youngest son and heir-apparent, Kim Jong-un, was also present at the banquet along with other senior officials, including Ri Yong-ho, chief of the general staff of the (North) Korean People's Army, defense chief Kim Yong-chun, and Kim Kyong-hui, the leader's sister who currently heads the Workers' Party's light industry department, the KCNA said.
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N. Korea Stresses Its Willingness to Return to Six-way Talks
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- The Rodong Sinmun on Aug. 27 stressed that North Korea is willing to return to the six-party talks after the country's leader Kim Jong-il recently expressed such an intent in Russia.
In a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held in Russia on Aug. 24, Kim Jong-il said that North Korea is ready to return to the six-way talks without any conditions.
"We (North Korea) have a coherent stance to realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula via the six-way talks," said the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North's ruling Workers' Party, in a commentary that was aired the same day on the (North) Korean Central Broadcasting Station.
Referring to the North's agreement to return to the talks during the Pyongyang-Moscow summit, the newspaper said the agreement reveals the two countries' principle positions to protect peace and security in the world.
The multinational negotiations aimed at ending the North's nuclear programs in return for economic and other rewards have been stalled since late 2008 after the North stormed out.
------------------------
N. Korea Unveils Business Plans for Troubled Mountain Resort
BEIJING (Yonhap) -- North Korea unveiled on Aug. 28 its business plans to redevelop a troubled mountain resort in the isolated country, after seizing South Korean properties in the complex once considered a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation.
The move is expected to further deepen the dispute over the resort at Mount Kumgang, with South Korea vowing to take all possible measures, including legal action with an international tribunal, against the North's decision to "legally dispose" of Seoul-owned assets there.
The business plans were presented to Yonhap News Agency by Park Chol-su, head of Taepung International Investment Group, which serves as a window to North Korea to attract foreign capital.
Taepung invited this week a group of foreign business executives and journalists to the resort to explain the business plans. During the four-day trip beginning on Aug. 28, the group will visit Mount Kumgang via ship after departing from the northeastern port city of Rason.
The plans call for North Korea to redevelop the resort into an international tourist and business zone by building golf courses and hosting casinos from China and Western nations.
Using a railway linking Beijing to Pyongyang and the resort, North Korea plans to attract tourists from the United States, Japan, China and Hong Kong, Park said.
The North is also seeking to run tours linking Rason and Mount Kumgang by ferry, with an eye to woo Chinese tourists.
Under the first-stage plan, the North's state agency will build energy and electricity facilities at an area of 60 square meters in the resort and let foreign business partners develop part of the area with their own projects, Park said.
North Korea plans to collect taxes from foreign partners to operate their facilities, according to Park. The area will be open to foreigners, but remain off-limits to ordinary North Koreans.
Last week, South Korea withdrew all its nationals from the resort along the North's east coast after Pyongyang ordered them to leave.
South and North Korea launched the joint tour program in 1998 as a key symbol of fledging reconciliation on the divided Korean Peninsula.
The cross-border program had served as a cash cow for the North before Seoul halted it in 2008 following the shooting death of a South Korean tourist at the resort.
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North Korea Yet to Recognize Libya's Rebel Council
TRIPOLI (Yonhap) -- North Korea has yet to officially recognize Libya's rebel-led council as the North African nation's legitimate governing authority, an official at the North Korean embassy in Tripoli said on Aug. 29.
Asked whether the Pyongyang government has granted recognition to Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC), the official said, "Not yet ... (we'll have to) wait and see." The official, who wished to remain unidentified, was speaking to reporters at the North Korean embassy in Tripoli.
More than 60 countries, including South Korea, have recognized the NTC since its formation by Libya's rebel forces against the regime of Moammar Gadhafi last February.
The official also confirmed reports that some 200 North Koreans are currently working in Libya as doctors, nurses and construction workers. About their safety, the official said some have returned home, although others have not been able to leave due to difficulties in transit.
"We will deal with them depending on the circumstances," the official said.
The remarks contrast with comments by a source familiar with North Korean affairs, who told Yonhap News Agency in April that Pyongyang ordered its people in Libya not to return home, as they may spread news of the anti-government uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East.
The North Korean embassy building has not been looted or damaged in the six-month-long conflict, the official said.
"(We) hope for peace and stability (in Libya)," the official said, adding that future relations between the nations will depend on the North African nation's stability.
Pyongyang has yet to send a new ambassador to Tripoli, after the previous envoy returned to North Korea upon completing his term, the official said.
Between the two Koreas, Pyongyang was first to establish diplomatic relations with Tripoli in 1974. The two sides later signed a cooperation pact in 1982 during Gadhafi's visit to North Korea.
The two nations have also shared common political values and held close military ties through their anti-United States posture and trade in North Korean ballistic missiles. Libya was also previously suspected of developing nuclear weapons with the North's help.
North Korea's official media have so far refrained from reporting on the collapse of Gadhafi's regime, indicating Pyongyang's sensitivity to the issue.
------------------------
North Korea Launches Rason-Mt. Kumgang Tourism Project
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Aug. 30 launched tours to the North Korean mountain resort through a sea route from the Rason economic and trade zone in the northeastern part of the country, the North's media said.
"The tourists will enjoy the scenic view of the East Sea of Korea and climb Mount Kumgang," which is located in the eastern coastal area of the country, the KCNA said.
The tourism program, including both sea and land sightseeing, is the first of its kind in North Korea and will take four nights and five days, the KCNA said.
The news agency also said the Mangyongbong-92, which served as the only shuttle between North Korea and Japan, will carry foreign tourists from Rason City to Mount Kumgang.
The North Korean ferry left Rajin Port after the inaugural ceremony was held to mark the start of the tours, with reporters from China, Russia, France and the United States in attendance, according to the KCNA.
Tourism Management Bureau of the zone, bordering Russia and China, plans to improve tourist facilities like hotels, recreational grounds and roads, the KCNA said.
In June, the bureau launched a tourism program on Rason City that allows Chinese people to drive their own cars to the city.
N. Korea's Media Reports Kim Jong-il's Visit to Russia, China
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea's state media reported on Aug. 28 that Kim Jong-il returned home by train the previous day and was welcomed by his heir apparent after a "successful" visit to Russia and China.
The North's reclusive leader on Aug. 27 wrapped up his weeklong visits to Russia and China, during which he discussed the resumption of stalled six-party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions and economic cooperation projects.
Kim "returned home on Aug. 27, accompanied by the suite members, after successfully winding up his visit" to Russia and China, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
Kim "was warmly greeted at the border railway station by Kim Jong-un," the 69-year-old North Korean leader's youngest son and leader-in-waiting, the KCNA added.
The report confirmed that the heir apparent was absent from the entourage on Kim's trip to Russia and China.
Kim began the two-nation trip by train on Aug. 20. Making his first visit to Russia in nearly a decade, he held a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and reportedly expressed his willingness to rejoin the six-party talks.
The trip to Russia included a tour of a hydroelectric plant and the summit with the Russian president on Aug. 24 in Ulan-Ude, a Siberian city near Baikal.
On his way home from Russia, Kim entered China on Aug. 25 and toured industrial facilities in Qiqihar, a hub of automobile industries, and Daqing, home to China's largest oilfield. He also held talks with Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo in Daqing.
------------------------
Kim Jong-il Attends Banquet Honoring His Trip to Russia, China
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il attended a banquet held to congratulate him on his "successful" recent visits to Russia and China, the North's state media said on Aug. 29.
The banquet was hosted by the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party and the National Defense Commission, according to a brief dispatch by the KCNA, monitored in Seoul. It did not mention where or when the event took place.
Kim returned home on Aug. 27 after an eight-day trip aboard his special armored train across Russia's Far East and northeastern China. The trip included summit talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev near the Siberian city of Ulan-Ude on Aug. 24 and tours of various industrial sites in both countries.
Kim's youngest son and heir-apparent, Kim Jong-un, was also present at the banquet along with other senior officials, including Ri Yong-ho, chief of the general staff of the (North) Korean People's Army, defense chief Kim Yong-chun, and Kim Kyong-hui, the leader's sister who currently heads the Workers' Party's light industry department, the KCNA said.
------------------------
N. Korea Stresses Its Willingness to Return to Six-way Talks
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- The Rodong Sinmun on Aug. 27 stressed that North Korea is willing to return to the six-party talks after the country's leader Kim Jong-il recently expressed such an intent in Russia.
In a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held in Russia on Aug. 24, Kim Jong-il said that North Korea is ready to return to the six-way talks without any conditions.
"We (North Korea) have a coherent stance to realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula via the six-way talks," said the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North's ruling Workers' Party, in a commentary that was aired the same day on the (North) Korean Central Broadcasting Station.
Referring to the North's agreement to return to the talks during the Pyongyang-Moscow summit, the newspaper said the agreement reveals the two countries' principle positions to protect peace and security in the world.
The multinational negotiations aimed at ending the North's nuclear programs in return for economic and other rewards have been stalled since late 2008 after the North stormed out.
------------------------
N. Korea Unveils Business Plans for Troubled Mountain Resort
BEIJING (Yonhap) -- North Korea unveiled on Aug. 28 its business plans to redevelop a troubled mountain resort in the isolated country, after seizing South Korean properties in the complex once considered a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation.
The move is expected to further deepen the dispute over the resort at Mount Kumgang, with South Korea vowing to take all possible measures, including legal action with an international tribunal, against the North's decision to "legally dispose" of Seoul-owned assets there.
The business plans were presented to Yonhap News Agency by Park Chol-su, head of Taepung International Investment Group, which serves as a window to North Korea to attract foreign capital.
Taepung invited this week a group of foreign business executives and journalists to the resort to explain the business plans. During the four-day trip beginning on Aug. 28, the group will visit Mount Kumgang via ship after departing from the northeastern port city of Rason.
The plans call for North Korea to redevelop the resort into an international tourist and business zone by building golf courses and hosting casinos from China and Western nations.
Using a railway linking Beijing to Pyongyang and the resort, North Korea plans to attract tourists from the United States, Japan, China and Hong Kong, Park said.
The North is also seeking to run tours linking Rason and Mount Kumgang by ferry, with an eye to woo Chinese tourists.
Under the first-stage plan, the North's state agency will build energy and electricity facilities at an area of 60 square meters in the resort and let foreign business partners develop part of the area with their own projects, Park said.
North Korea plans to collect taxes from foreign partners to operate their facilities, according to Park. The area will be open to foreigners, but remain off-limits to ordinary North Koreans.
Last week, South Korea withdrew all its nationals from the resort along the North's east coast after Pyongyang ordered them to leave.
South and North Korea launched the joint tour program in 1998 as a key symbol of fledging reconciliation on the divided Korean Peninsula.
The cross-border program had served as a cash cow for the North before Seoul halted it in 2008 following the shooting death of a South Korean tourist at the resort.
------------------------
North Korea Yet to Recognize Libya's Rebel Council
TRIPOLI (Yonhap) -- North Korea has yet to officially recognize Libya's rebel-led council as the North African nation's legitimate governing authority, an official at the North Korean embassy in Tripoli said on Aug. 29.
Asked whether the Pyongyang government has granted recognition to Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC), the official said, "Not yet ... (we'll have to) wait and see." The official, who wished to remain unidentified, was speaking to reporters at the North Korean embassy in Tripoli.
More than 60 countries, including South Korea, have recognized the NTC since its formation by Libya's rebel forces against the regime of Moammar Gadhafi last February.
The official also confirmed reports that some 200 North Koreans are currently working in Libya as doctors, nurses and construction workers. About their safety, the official said some have returned home, although others have not been able to leave due to difficulties in transit.
"We will deal with them depending on the circumstances," the official said.
The remarks contrast with comments by a source familiar with North Korean affairs, who told Yonhap News Agency in April that Pyongyang ordered its people in Libya not to return home, as they may spread news of the anti-government uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East.
The North Korean embassy building has not been looted or damaged in the six-month-long conflict, the official said.
"(We) hope for peace and stability (in Libya)," the official said, adding that future relations between the nations will depend on the North African nation's stability.
Pyongyang has yet to send a new ambassador to Tripoli, after the previous envoy returned to North Korea upon completing his term, the official said.
Between the two Koreas, Pyongyang was first to establish diplomatic relations with Tripoli in 1974. The two sides later signed a cooperation pact in 1982 during Gadhafi's visit to North Korea.
The two nations have also shared common political values and held close military ties through their anti-United States posture and trade in North Korean ballistic missiles. Libya was also previously suspected of developing nuclear weapons with the North's help.
North Korea's official media have so far refrained from reporting on the collapse of Gadhafi's regime, indicating Pyongyang's sensitivity to the issue.
------------------------
North Korea Launches Rason-Mt. Kumgang Tourism Project
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Aug. 30 launched tours to the North Korean mountain resort through a sea route from the Rason economic and trade zone in the northeastern part of the country, the North's media said.
"The tourists will enjoy the scenic view of the East Sea of Korea and climb Mount Kumgang," which is located in the eastern coastal area of the country, the KCNA said.
The tourism program, including both sea and land sightseeing, is the first of its kind in North Korea and will take four nights and five days, the KCNA said.
The news agency also said the Mangyongbong-92, which served as the only shuttle between North Korea and Japan, will carry foreign tourists from Rason City to Mount Kumgang.
The North Korean ferry left Rajin Port after the inaugural ceremony was held to mark the start of the tours, with reporters from China, Russia, France and the United States in attendance, according to the KCNA.
Tourism Management Bureau of the zone, bordering Russia and China, plans to improve tourist facilities like hotels, recreational grounds and roads, the KCNA said.
In June, the bureau launched a tourism program on Rason City that allows Chinese people to drive their own cars to the city.
