NORTH KOREA NEWSLETTER NO. 58 (June 11, 2009)

*** CHRONOLOGICAL REVIEW

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- The following is a chronological review of major developments
related to North Korea between June 4-10, 2009.

June
4 The Sports Contest for the Pochonbo Torch Prize opens with due ceremony in
Wonsan, Kangwon Province, on June 3.
4-8 The (North) Korean Central Court tries American journalists Laura Ling and
Euna Lee on charges of crossing into the country illegally and engaging in
"hostile acts." The court said on June 8 the journalists were sentenced to 12
years of reform through labor.
5 North Korean leader Kim Jong-il lays wreaths before a statue and the grave of
his grandfather, Kim Hyong-jik, to mark the 83rd anniversary of his death. He is
accompanied by Kim Il-chol, first-vice minister of People's Armed Forces, and
Yang Hyong-sop, vice chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) Presidium.
5 Chinese Ambassador to North Korea, Liu Xiaoming, and staff members of the
embassy help out with rice transplanting at a cooperative farm in Pyongyang.
5 Kim Yong-nam, president of the SPA Presidium, sends a message of greetings to
King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden on the occasion of its national day.
5 The (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) says Kim Jong-il and Korean
People's Army (KPA) soldiers watched a performance put on by the families of KPA
Unit 583 and Unit 3154 of the Korean People's Security Forces.
5 The KCNA says Kim Jong-il provided field guidance to industrial establishments
in Tanchon, South Hamgyong Province.
6 A performance of the 48th national schoolchildren's art festival is given at
the Pyongyang Schoolchildren's Palace to mark the anniversary of the Children's
Union.
6 The second football match between North Korea and Iran to qualify for the 2010
FIFA World Cup is held at Yanggakdo Football Stadium in Pyongyang. The match
ended in a draw with no score.
6 Senior party and state officials visit the Kalma Theater, a newly built
facility at a military rest home, and enjoy a performance put on by army family
members.
6 The KCNA says Kim Jong-il provided field guidance to the Tongbong Cooperative
Farm in Hamju County, South Hamgyong Province.
7 The KCNA says Kim Jong-il inspected the Kosan Fruit Farm in Kosan, Kangwon
Province.
7 The KCNA says Kim Jong-il gave guidance to the creation of opera "Evgeni
Onegin," an adaptation from the Russian opera with the same title.
8 A delegation of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry headed by Assistant Minister
Ahmed Rezk flies into Pyongyang.
9 Kim Yong-nam sends a message of greetings to Portugese President Anibal Cavaco
Silva on the occasion of its national day.
9 Kim Yong-nam receives credentials from Sam Gerovich, Australian ambassador to
North Korea, at Mansudae Assembly Hall.
9 North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun meets with the visiting Egyptian
foreign ministry delegation and the new Australian ambassador to Pyongyang, who
paid him a courtesy call.
9 A ceremony is held to mark the completion of the Nyongwon Power Station in the
upper part of the Taedong River in South Pyongan Province. It is attended by Choe
Thae-bok, secretary of the Workers' Party, and Vice Premier Kwak Pom-gi.
9 The Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the
Fatherland releases a detailed report on the death of former South Korean
President Roh Moo-hyun, claiming Roh's death was not a suicide but a politically
motivated murder orchestrated by the United States and the pro-American
conservative forces of the South.
9 Pak Ui-chun sends a congratulatory message to Sujata Koirala on her appointment
as foreign minister of Nepal.
9 A performance is given by art groups of families of KPA servicemen that
participated in the second round of the second-term contest among the art groups
of families of KPA servicemen at the Kalma Theater.
10 Kim Yong-nam sends a message of greetings to Moammer el Gaddafi, leader of the
Revolution of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, on the
occasion of the 39th anniversary of the dismantlement of the U.S. military base
in Libya.
10 Kim Yong-nam sends a message to Rose Francine Rogombe, president of the Senate
of Gabon, expressing condolences over the death of Gabonese President El Hadj
Omar Bongo Ondimba while receiving hospital treatment.
(END)