North Korea-weekly review-7

NORTH KOREA NEWSLETTER NO. 41 (February 12, 2009)

*** CHRONOLOGICAL REVIEW

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- The following is a chronological review of major developments
related to North Korea from Feb. 5-11.

February
5 Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun sends a message of greetings to Abdulrahman
Mohamed Shalgham, Libya's secretary for Foreign Liaison and International
Cooperation, on Jan. 19 on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the
establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
5 A ceremony is held to grant state academic degrees and titles to intellectuals
who made fresh breakthroughs in scientific research and the education of younger
generation on the occasion of Kim Jong-il's birthday which falls on Feb. 16.
5 Choe Thae-bok, chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), meets a British
parliamentary delegation led by Lord David Alton -- chairman of the British-North
Korean All-Party Parliamentary Group -- who paid a courtesy call on him, at the
Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang.
5 A national seminar on the "immortal feats" of Kim Jong-il is held at the
People's Palace of Culture in Pyongyang with Choe Thae-bok, secretary of the
Workers' Party of (North) Korea (WPK) Central Committee, and Education Minister
Kim Yong-jin attending.
5 A reception is arranged at the North Korean embassy in Beijing for officials of
the International Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the Communist
Party of China (CPC) on the occasion of the New Year.
5 The (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) says talks were held between the
North's SPA delegation and the British parliamentary delegation at the Mansudae
Assembly Hall on Jan. 4.
6 Premier Kim Yong-il sends a message of greetings to Tillman Thomas, prime
minister of Grenada, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of independence of
the country.
6 The Kimilsung Socialist Youth League holds the 39th plenary session in
Pyongyang to discuss ways to "thoroughly fulfill" state goals set in the New
Year's joint editorial.
7 A WPK delegation led by Pak Kyong-son, a deputy director of a WPK department,
returns home from a trip to the United Kingdom.
7 The KCNA says Kim Jong-il inspected the command of the KPA Large Combined Unit
324.
7 The KCNA says Kim Jong-il watched a music and dance performance by members of
South Hamgyong provincial art troupe.
7 THe KCNA says Kim Jong-il inspected Hungnam Fertilizer Complex.
7 The KCNA says Kim Jong-il watched a performance by an art propaganda team of
the KPA Large Combined Unit 324.
8 The KCNA says Kim Jong-il has been proclaimed candidate for the 12th-term SPA
in all electoral districts across the country.
8 The KCNA says Kim Jong-il provided field guidance to the Rakwon Machine Complex.
8 Leading party and government officials visit the International Friendship
Gallery ahead of Kim Jong-il's birthday.
10 The KCNA says preparations for the 13th Kimjongilia festival are "briskly"
underway.
10 The 14th Paektusan Prize Sports Contest among Officials of National
Institutions, which opened on January 21 on the occasion of Kim Jong-il's
birthday, closes with due ceremony at the Pyongyang Indoor Stadium.
10 The KCNA says four sorts of memorial stamps have been published in North Korea
to mark Kim Jong-il's birthday.
10 An art performance is given by agricultural workers at the Mangyongdae Farm to
mark Kim Jong-il's birthday.
11 The KCNA says Kim Jong-il inspected Unit 681 under the KPA Artillery Command.
11 Kim Yong-nam sends a congratulatory message to Moammer el Gaddafi, leader of
the Revolution of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, on his
election as chairperson of the African Union at the body's 12th ordinary session
of the assembly of heads of state and government.
11 The National Defense Commission and the Central Military Commission of the WPK
issue a decision to appoint Vice Marshal Kim Yong-chun as minister of the
people's armed forces and General Ri Yong-ho as chief of the KPA General Staff.
11 A ceremony is held for the opening of a 10-day film festival at the People's
Palace of Culture in Pyongyang in celebration of Kim Jong-il's birthday.
11 A national art exhibition opens in Pyongyang to mark Kim's birthday.
11 Premier Kim Yong-il sends a message of greetings to Iran's First-vice
President Parviz Davudi to mark the 30th anniversary of the victory of the
Islamic revolution in the country.
11 Kim Yong-nam sends a message of greetings to Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad to mark the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution.
(END)