News Articles
(Note: Here we collect the articles which give us a thinking. We hope you should also read them and think over as we do. However, the views expressed in the articles are not necessarily the same as ours.)
Reunification by Federal Formula Called for
Pyongyang, February 24 (KCNA) -- The best way of realizing the reunification of Korea in a reasonable manner is to found a unified state of the nation by federal formula based on one nation and state and two systems and governments.
Rodong Sinmun Wednesday observes this in a signed article. It goes on:
The proposal for achieving reunification by federal formula is the peace-loving way for reunification which is conducive to guaranteeing global peace and security as well as ensuring durable peace on the Korean Peninsula.
This proposal is the just and fair way for reunification as it neither ensures the predominance and interests of either the north or the south nor does harm to any side.
Huge armed forces of the north and the south of Korea are standing in acute confrontation along the Military Demarcation Line, leaving the peninsula fraught with the danger of war all the time. Under such situation, it is as plain as pikestaff that any try for "unification of systems", not reunification by federal formula would give rise to another war.
There is no reason for the north and the south of Korea to fight against each other as they are one nation. They should choose the reunification based on federation which would make it possible to reunify the country in a peaceful way, not a war which would bring ruin to the whole nation.
The proposal for achieving reunification based on federation is the only way of reunification for the Korean nation.
All the Koreans in the north and the south and overseas should turn out as one this year which marks the 30th anniversary of the proposal for founding the Democratic Federal Republic of Koryo and more dynamically conduct the patriotic struggle to realize the proposal for achieving reunification based on federation and thus bring about a decisive turn in the struggle to achieve the independent and peaceful reunification of the country.
South Korea Renews Offer of Liaison Offices
By CHOE SANG-HUN, New York Times
SEOUL, South Korea ? President Lee Myung-bak renewed a proposal on Monday that South and North Korea open liaison offices in each other¡¯s capitals to facilitate dialogue.
Opening liaison offices in Seoul and Pyongyang would create the first standing channel of official contact between the two Koreas, which remain divided by a heavily armed border after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a permanent peace treaty.
North Korea did not immediately respond to Mr. Lee¡¯s offer.
When Mr. Lee first made the proposal in April 2008, not long after his inauguration, North Korea dismissed it as a ¡°shallow trick¡± to disguise his hard-line approach on the North. The North also rejected an American offer to establish offices in Pyongyang and Washington in the 1990s, when the United States began its efforts to end the North¡¯s nuclear weapons development.
The mood in Seoul appears to have improved, however, after North Korea in its New Year¡¯s message on Friday skipped its usual diatribe against the South Korean leader and said its commitment to improving ties with South Korea remained ¡°unshakable.¡±
¡°We need to build a channel for constant dialogue between the South and the North,¡± Mr. Lee said in his nationally televised New Year¡¯s address on Monday. ¡°In the new year, we must create a turning point in the South-North relations.¡±
Mr. Lee later told reporters that by ¡°a channel of constant dialogue,¡± he meant high-level liaison offices.
The cautiously upbeat mood in Seoul was bolstered when the Choson Sinbo, a Tokyo-based newspaper considered a conduit for Pyongyang, said on Friday that the North¡¯s New Year¡¯s message may herald a ¡°dramatic event¡± in inter-Korean relations.
The report led South Korean media to speculate that the two Koreas may be arranging a meeting this year between Mr. Lee and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il. Mr. Lee¡¯s office has denied reports that the two sides held a series of secret meetings to discuss a possible encounter.
Both the North Korean New Year¡¯s message and Mr. Lee¡¯s address reaffirmed the fundamental differences over the North¡¯s nuclear weapons program.
Mr. Lee urged North Korea to return to six-nation nuclear disarmament talks ¡°so the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula makes progress and a floodgate of South-North Korean cooperation can open in earnest.¡±
North Korea indicated that it will consider giving up its nuclear weapons only after it has improved ties with Washington and no longer feels threatened by the United States.
In his Monday speech, Mr. Lee also proposed excavating the remains of tens of thousands of South Korean soldiers killed during the war and buried in major battle sites in the North. Bringing them home would be a symbolic gesture of reconciliation in 2010, which marks the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the war.
Repatriation of the dead would be less sensitive politically than the long-standing South Korean desire to bring home hundreds of South Korean prisoners of war believed to still be alive in the North, as well as hundreds of South Korean fishermen allegedly kidnapped to the North after the war.
Between 1995 and 2005, North Korea cooperated with the United States to find the remains of American war dead in such famous Korean War battle sites as Unsan and the Chosin Reservoir in a deal that brought the impoverished country millions of dollars.
Relations between Seoul and Pyongyang worsened after Mr. Lee took office in early 2008 and halted large food shipments pending progress in dismantling the North¡¯s nuclear weapons program.
Rodong Sinmun on U.S. Failure in Its "Anti-Terror War"
Pyongyang, November 12 (KCNA) -- The U.S. forces have fought the reckless "anti-terror war," utterly disregarding the capability and will of the people aspiring after independence and having no elementary consideration of their ability, too much obsessed with the idea of "military technological superiority." Rodong Sinmun Thursday says this in a signed article.
It goes on: No doubt this is a hopeless war for the U.S. It has failed to put under its control the struggle of the anti-U.S. resistance forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, adding to the toll of its troops, as it was not aware of its big ideological, moral and military weak points, contending that it could win the "anti-terror war" if it only goes superior in weaponry and military technology.
The U.S. forces ignited the Afghan and Iraqi wars all of a sudden, pinning much hope on their latest type weapons. These weapons, however, failed to play a decisive role.
The U.S. forces are serving in the army to have their individual selfish desires realized. This is one of their ideological and moral weak points.
They are operating hundreds of military bases in many countries and regions, having too many military targets and too long a front. This is also one of their vulnerable points.
They also failed to calculate that where independence is infringed upon, there always comes resistance and where there is resistance there always comes a revolutionary struggle.
The U.S. forces are now pushing the "anti-terror war" to a catastrophe, their energy waning, the article says, adding that the failure in the "anti-terror war" means a failure in their strategy based on strength.
The worldwide fierce anti-U.S. movement against the "anti-terror war" is bringing the U.S. position of being the world's "only superpower" to a rapid decline and precipitating the process of global independence, concludes the article.
US offers to talk directly to N.Korea
WASHINGTON (AFP) - In a policy shift, the Obama administration said it is prepared to hold direct talks with North Korea in a bid to bring Pyongyang back to six-nation nuclear disarmament negotiations.
The administration -- which has conditioned talks with North Korea on Pyongyang's agreeing to return to a nuclear deal it quit in April -- made the offer after consulting partners China, South Korea, Japan and Russia, on Friday.
"We had consultations with our partners in the six-party process," Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley told reporters at the daily news briefing.
"We are prepared to enter into a bilateral discussion with North Korea, but it's important to characterize it properly," Crowley added.
"It's a bilateral discussion that (is) hopefully... within the six-party context, and it's designed to convince North Korea to come back to the six-party process and to take affirmative steps towards denuclearization," he said.
Crowley denied the move amounted to a significant policy change, but suggested it amounted to a tactical shift when he called it a "short-term" measure to bring the reclusive Stalinist state back to talks.
He said it is too early to say when and where envoys such as Stephen Bosworth, the pointman for North Korea in President Barack Obama's administration, and his deputy Sung Kim would meet their North Korean counterparts.
"Given the consultations that we have, given the invitation that was extended (from North Korea for direct talks), we'll make some decisions, you know, in the next couple of weeks," Crowley said.
He was referring to consultations that Bosworth had with his counterparts from China, South Korea and Japan during a tour of Asia in the last week. Kim stayed on in Asia to consult with his Russian counterpart.
Bosworth gave no hint of a change in plan when he spoke in Tokyo on Tuesday.
On August 25, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the United States would sit down with the North Koreans only if they agreed to return to six-party disarmament talks.
North Korea quit the six-way talks grouping in April in protest at UN censure of a rocket launch. The UN Security Council then tightened sanctions on North Korea after it staged an underground nuclear weapons test in May.
The United States has long said that any bilateral talks would come only within the framework of six-party talks, which also include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.
The six-party consultations came after North Korea began to soften its posture recently and sought bilateral talks with Washington, while attempting to scrap the six-way talks aimed at ending its nuclear ambitions.
But Pyongyang said last week it had reached the final stages of enriching uranium and was also building more plutonium-based atomic weapons.
A senior State Department official told reporters on the condition of anonymity that "it will probably be Ambassador Bosworth" who meets with the North Koreans.
"I wouldn't say it's imminent, probably not before UNGA," the official added.
He was referring to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) meeting in New York at the end of September in New York. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Obama are expected to discuss North Korea there with their international partners.
Story of "Chain Reaction" Spread by U.S. Blasted
Pyongyang, July 27 (KCNA) -- The U.S. is now spreading in countries around the DPRK the rumor that "chain reaction" may occur in Japan and south Korea unless the DPRK's access to nukes is checked. This is nothing but sheer speculation as it is departure from reality, says Rodong Sinmun Monday in a signed commentary.
When a country is exposed to very potential and serious nuclear threats and when it finds no other way to cope with them, it is compelled to have access to nukes as its last resort, the commentary notes, citing facts to prove that Japan and south Korea have long been under the U.S. "nuclear umbrella".
The commentary goes on:
Japan and south Korea are provided with the U.S. "nuclear umbrellas," while keeping huge U.S. troops in their lands. Therefore, one can safely say that they are practically armed with nuclear weapons.
But quite different is the case with the DPRK.
The DPRK has never been provided with any nuclear umbrella by outsiders to cope with the U.S. nuclear threat.
Only danger of war will increase when one of the two hostile parties is armed with nuclear weapons or protected by a "nuclear umbrella" while the other remains defenseless, having none of them.
The DPRK's access to nukes helped keep a nuclear balance in Northeast Asia even in the least, thus making it possible to deter a war.
The arithmetic logic that Japan and south Korea may go nuclear because the DPRK has had access to nukes is an expression of ignorance of those who are utterly insensitive to the reality. This is only part of a clumsy psychological warfare launched against the DPRK's access to nukes, concludes the commentary.
CPRK Secretariat Releases Detailed Report on Truth about Death of Roh Moo Hyun
Pyongyang, June 9 (KCNA) -- The Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea Tuesday released a detailed report on the truth about the death of Roh Moo Hyun, former "president" of south Korea.
According to the detailed report, Roh's death was not a suicide but a politically motivated, premeditated and deliberate terror and murder orchestrated by the United States and the pro-American conservative forces of south Korea.
A prelude to the operation for "killing Roh Moo Hyun" started already during the "presidential election" in 2002. This operation got evermore undisguised with his visit to Pyongyang and the publication of the historic October 4 declaration in 2007 as a momentum and entered the phase of its full implementation after the conservative group came to power with the "regime" change last year.
The Lee Myung Bak group was so keen on the extreme political revenge that it pressurized Roh to pay for the past decade when the "power" was in the hands of the progressive forces. It had gone mad with the operation to "kill Roh Moo Hyun," overturning everything achieved in the period of the former "regime" and purging en masse those related to the "government for people," etc.
A plot hatched by the Lee group was to brand Roh and his close associates as "forces behind" candlelight demonstrations.
The group made with bloodshot eyes secret investigation into them but failed to secure any evidence enough to label them "forces behind" candlelight demonstrations.
When the above-said operation repeatedly proved futile, the group hatched a fresh plot to use irregularities and corruption as the last charge for dealing a fatal blow at him.
At the special instructions of traitor Lee Myung Bak more than ten confidants of Roh Moo Hyun and his wife, children, brother-in-law, niece's husband and others were taken to the prosecution one after another to be subject to intensive questioning. Later, even Roh was taken to Seoul under escort from Kimhae. He was questioned day and night at the "Supreme Prosecutor's Office".
The puppet prosecution, totally reduced to a waiting maid of the fascist dictator, deliberately made even the information about the case known to the "Grand National Party" and media, though it remained unconfirmed at the phase of investigation, thus perpetrating all sorts of personal libels against Roh and bringing disgrace to him. The ultra-right conservative knockers went the lengths of openly forcing him into "suicide."
Unable to endure scornful feelings, Roh finally killed himself as a manifestation of his curse and resistance.
The United States had long kept him on the "list of those to be killed", regarding him as undesirable person. Roh thus fell victim to the U.S. policy for colonial domination as he stood in the way of implementing it.
His death caused by the group of traitors was a politically-motivated sinister retaliation against the forces standing for independent reunification through alliance with the north and an unprecedentedly brutal violence to scrap the inter-Korean declarations and stifle the forces supporting them, the report said, declaring that the entire nation will surely make the Lee Myung Bak gang of man-killers to pay for the never-to-be-condoned crime.
South-South Cooperation Called for
Pyongyang, May 15 (KCNA) -- South-South cooperation is the work to be done by developing countries themselves to promote the joint development and prosperity and interests.
Rodong Sinmun Friday observes this in a signed article:
Economic independence represents a material foundation to guarantee the sovereignty and independence of each country.
The people of many countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America gained political independence free from the colonial yoke and embarked upon the road of independent development after the Second World War.
But the people of not a few developing countries have not yet achieved economic independence and are facing a series of economic difficulties in the building of a new society.
At present the imperialists are pursuing a predatory policy aimed at meeting their own interests at the sacrifice of the interests of developing countries by taking advantage of their unchallenged position in the international economic relations.
In consequence, resources of developing countries and the fruits of labor of their people are sold to capitalist countries at giveaway prices. The foreign debts of developing countries are now snowballing and their people are subject to hard living.
Only when developing countries develop South-South cooperation can they get rid of imperialists' economic subjugation and dependence upon them and successfully build an independent national economy.
Successful progress in this cooperation would help bring the present old and unfair international economic system to collapse and build instead a new and fair international economic order.
Developing countries have the common interest in realizing the said cooperation for their common conditions and aspirations.
They have huge human resources and inexhaustible natural resources as well as experience and technologies good enough for exchange among themselves.
They are sure to realize South-South cooperation if they make a proper use of all conditions and possibilities and make joint efforts.
The vitality of the said cooperation is clearly proven in practice.
KCNA Demands Closure of U.S. Secret Prisons
Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) -- The special rapporteur for torture issue of the UN Human Rights Council and the UN special envoy for human rights and anti-terrorism, addressing the recent 10th meeting of the council, declared that an international investigation would be conducted into the secret prisons operated by the United States.
They denounced the atrocities committed by the U.S. as the "most horrible acts," asserting that they would not allow the U.S. to evade its responsibility for them with ease on account of the replacement of the U.S. administration and that the investigation should be continued till everything has been clarified.
This is a proper step taken by the international community against the U.S. which has committed ceaseless human rights abuses in different parts of the world under the signboard of "war on terrorism."
The U.S. set up a secret prison in Guantanamo of Cuba in the wake of the "September 11 incident" and established such prisons in different countries of the world and even on warships.
It arrested many people and has kept them in custody for a long period, ruthlessly violating their freedom and human rights.
26,000 people are now detained, without having even a chance to stand a fair trial, the most elementary human rights.
They are put to beating, sleep depravation, water boarding, sexual torture and other forms of mediaeval torture. Guiltless people are disappearing without being known to the outside, while undergoing unbearable pain.
These are the hideous human rights abuses quite contrary to the humanitarian principles of modern international law including the "Geneva Convention" and international law on human rights.
Precisely for this reason the International Committee of the Red Cross in a report in 2007 defined the U.S. atrocities as "cruel and inhuman contempt of personality" and "torture."
What merits a serious attention is that the U.S. is trying to keep the secret prisons censured by the world.
This is evidenced by the fact that the U.S. attorney general, while announcing the "new standard for the operation of the facilities for 'suspected terrorists'" in Guantanamo on March 13, blustered that it is inevitable to operate these facilities in a way to tighten national security.
These outbursts cannot but sound very surprising as they are let loose without let-up under the pretext of "examining" the closure of the secret prison in Guantanamo.
During the office of the Bush administration the U.S. left no means untried to cover up the operation of secret prisons with such crafty words as "national security".
The new U.S. administration is echoing such words only to reveal its intention not to close them.
The U.S. had better close as early as possible the secret prisons ill-famed for lots of human rights abuses.
Struggle under Slogan "Let Us Live Not Merely for Today But for Tomorrow!" Called for
Pyongyang, February 6 (KCNA) -- Rodong Sinmun today editorially calls for vigorously carrying on the struggle for the bright future of the socialist fatherland under the uplifted slogan "Let us live not merely for today but for tomorrow!"
The Korean revolution was pioneered and has advanced victoriously thanks to the peerlessly great men who looked after the destiny of the country and the nation with noble responsibility and showed warm loving care for the future, the editorial says, and goes on:
We should certainly materialize the Party's intention and decision to fling open the gate to a thriving nation in 2012 in which falls the centenary of birth of President Kim Il Sung in order to demonstrate to the world the bright future of the revolutionary cause of Juche and Songun Korea.
It is the great outlook on the revolution, the outlook on the future of General Secretary Kim Jong Il that the revolution is the cause to keep the love for the people flourish and that one should devote everything to the future of the country and the happiness of all generations to come although one may not enjoy life's pleasure in one's generation.
We should adorn every moment of our lives with praiseworthy feats to keep pace with Kim Jong Il who is making ceaseless journey of the Songun leadership with noble patriotic devotion.
The anti-Japanese revolutionary forerunners are the first generation of the Korean revolution who thoroughly embodied the revolutionary view on life of living not merely for today but for tomorrow and set an example of how to bring into full bloom the love for the future.
Only when the rising generations successfully inherit the noble spirit and the fighting traits displayed by the revolutionary forerunners, can they successfully carry forward the lifeline of the revolution and our country prosper forever.
We should leave clear footprints of patriotism to be remembered long by the generations to come in today's worthwhile struggle creating a new history of a great revolutionary surge.
The future of Songun Korea is immensely bright and there are no revolutionary people as the Korean people who struggle and advance full of great ambition and hope for the future.
The on-going general advance for building a great prosperous powerful nation is sure to triumph as long as there are the seasoned and tested leadership of the great Party, the invincible revolutionary armed forces and the single-minded unity cemented in the crucible of the Songun revolution and the mental power of all the servicepersons and people stronger than a nuclear weapon.
Founding Anniversary of Pomminryon Marked in Seoul
Pyongyang, December 2 (KCNA) -- The South Headquarters of the National Alliance for the Country's Reunification (Pomminryon) held a meeting in Seoul on Nov. 30 to mark the 18th anniversary of its formation.
Present there were members of the South Headquarters of Pomminryon and figures of different circles.
Ri Kyu Jae, chairman of the South Headquarters of Pomminryon, in a speech made at the meeting said that one's stand and attitude toward the June 15 joint declaration and the October 4 declaration is a touchstone showing whether one stands for reunification or for division.
Whoever denies these historical declarations for reunification can never escape bitter resentment and curse of the fellow countrymen, he warned.
He declared that the South Headquarters of Pomminryon would achieve the country's reunification without fail by focusing the actions on the anti-Lee Myung Bak struggle and fully implementing the above-said declarations under the uplifted banner of "By our nation itself."
Congratulatory messages from the North Headquarters, Overseas Headquarters and the Joint Secretariat of Pomminryon were introduced and a resolution was read out at the meeting.
The resolution noted that Pomminryon, regarding the idea of "By our nation itself" as its lifeline, is filled with the resolution to fulfill the mission it assumed before the times and the nation no matter how desperate the anti-reunification forces may become in their moves.
Remarks of S. Korean Minister of "Unification" Dismissed as Sheer Sophism
Pyongyang, October 22 (KCNA) -- The south Korean minister of "Unification" asserted that the inter-Korean relations deteriorated because the north insisted on the implementation of the October 4 declaration. What he uttered is too brazen-faced and outrageous outbursts against reunification to be overlooked.
Rodong Sinmun Wednesday says this in a signed commentary. It goes on:
He is a diehard anti-reunification maniac who should have been judged by the nation for having played a leading role in bedeviling the inter-Korean relations, taking the lead in implementing the "pragmatic government's" anti-DPRK confrontational policy. Nevertheless, this guy is now craftily working to shift the responsibility for the deteriorated inter-Korean relations onto the DPRK, turning white to black. This is an unbearable provocation to the DPRK and unpardonable mockery of all the Koreans desirous of national reconciliation and reunification.
The Lee Myung Bak group is now keen to lay the blame for the catastrophic situation created in the inter-Korean relations, far from admitting its crimes committed against reunification. This clearly suggests that the group of traitors will throw a stumbling block in the way of developing the inter-Korean relations while sticking to the anti-DPRK confrontational policy.
The Lee group's desperate efforts to dodge the strong protest and denunciation from the public at home and abroad and justify its anti-reunification acts would get it nowhere.
The Lee group can never evade the responsibility for having pushed the inter-Korean relations to a catastrophic crisis quite contrary to the need of the times and the desire of the nation and will have to pay a dear price for this crime.
Idea of NAM Sure to Triumph
Pyongyang, August 25 (KCNA) -- Rodong Sinmun today dedicates a signed article to the 33rd anniversary of the DPRK's emergence as a full-fledged member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
The DPRK's entry into the NAM marked an important occasion in infusing dynamism into the unity of the movement and its growth and development and giving impetus to its dynamic advance along the road of independence against imperialism and for peace against war, guided by its idea, the article notes, and goes on:
The DPRK has steadily enhanced the position and influence of the NAM in the international arena by playing its role as its member nation.
President Kim Il Sung regarded it as the noble mission of the NAM to oppose all forms of domination, subjugation, aggression and interference, ensure peace and security, defend the sovereignty of the country and the nation and achieve free socio-economic development long ago and made indefatigable efforts for the strengthening and development of the NAM and unity, solidarity and cooperation among its member nations to the last moments of his life.
The undying feats the President performed by strengthening and developing the NAM and carrying out the cause of global independence have always shined thanks to General Secretary Kim Jong Il.
Kim Jong Il has paid deeper attention to the development of the NAM to cope with the rapidly changing international situation in the new century and exerted every possible effort to make sure that the movement creditably fulfils its mission and plays its role as the powerful anti-imperialist independent forces in our times, not wavering in any storm and stress.
The DPRK will in the future, too, make positive efforts to ensure peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and Asia and the rest of the world.
Steadfast are the stand and will of the DPRK to make unsparing efforts to preserve the basic idea, principle and purity of the NAM, develop it and boost its function and role and advance the cause of global independence.
The NAM, a mighty revolutionary force against imperialism in our era, is sure to triumph in the struggle to realize its idea and achieve its aim under the uplifted banner of independence.
Replacement of Armistice Agreement by Peace Accord Urged
Pyongyang, July 28 (KCNA) -- 55 years have passed since the Armistice Agreement was signed between the DPRK and the U.S.
In this regard Rodong Sinmun Monday carries a signed commentary which says: In order to prevent the danger of a new war and ensure durable peace on the Korean Peninsula, there is no other way but to put an end to the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK and conclude a peace accord between them.
The above-said policy of the U.S. is a main obstacle to settling the pending issues such as the nuclear issue and ensuring peace on the peninsula, the commentary notes, and goes on:
The U.S. has systematically violated the fragile AA, instead of replacing AA by a peace accord on the peninsula.
The hostile policy enforced by the U.S. towards the DPRK has resulted in bedeviling not only the DPRK-U.S. relations but the inter-Korean relations. The situation is further deteriorating. The U.S. drop of the above-mentioned policy is, therefore, essential for defusing the tension and ensuring security on the peninsula. This is also in line with the interests of not only the north and the south of Korea but other countries around it.
The DPRK has consistently urged the United States to rectify its hostile policy toward the DPRK and replace the AA by a peace accord.
Had the U.S. rolled back the above-said policy as called for by the DPRK, no such complicated pending issues as what they are facing now would have surfaced between them.
The U.S. warlike forces are straining the situation behind the scene of the six-party talks while systematically escalating their military moves to invade the DPRK.
The military tension can never be defused on the peninsula nor can the danger of war be removed from there unless the U.S. drops the above-said policy and replaces the AA by a peace accord.
Everything depends on the stand and attitude of the U.S.
The U.S. should not evade its heavy responsibility as the party chiefly to blame for having deteriorated the situation on the peninsula and caused the nuclear crisis but respond as early as possible to the just call of the DPRK for replacing the AA by a peace accord. This would be beneficial not only to ensuring peace and security in Northeast Asia and other parts of the world but also to the U.S., concludes the commentary.
[Hangyrae Editorial] Summit declarations integral to N. Korea policy
Ahead of the 8th anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration, there is a growing call for the government to change its policy on North Korea. Following calls for change by experts and scholars at home and abroad, people who were instrumental in moving inter-Korean relations forward in the 1990s are increasingly adding their voices to the din. The group includes former President Kim Dae-jung, former unification ministers Lim Dong-won and Jeong Se-hyun, and Rep. Park Ji-won. Current Unification Minister Kim Ha-joong, who has been tentative about his stance, is also trying to display a different attitude by participating in an event related to the anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration.
The calls for a shift in North Korean policy are not so complex. People are urging the government to clearly acknowledge the October 4 summit declaration of 2007 and the June 15 Joint Declaration of 2000 and pledge to implement them. The two declarations were documents signed by the leaders of South and North Korea after intensive negotiations. Without respect for the two declarations, no policy will make progress in inter-Korean relations. Although the government is emphasizing the South-North Basic Agreement that came into force under the government of President Roh Tae-woo in 1992, it seems to be willing to turn inter-Korean relations back to the way they were in the early 1990s. The South-North Basic Agreement wasn¡¯t implemented because it contains general principles. The June 15 declaration made it specific by outlining a set of practical terms by which it would be implemented. The October 4 declaration, which in turn grew out of the June 15 declaration, contained details on economic cooperation projects to be carried out between the two Koreas.
North Korea is working on the final step of disclosing all of its nuclear activities and is waiting for the next step: dismantlement of its nuclear facilities. To smoothly complete the declaration step, diplomatic efforts by the countries involved in the six-party talks are now in full gear. However, there is little room for South Korea, whose role has seemingly been weakened following the inauguration of the new government. With no leverage in relations with North Korea, South Korea is being driven into a corner and its reliance on other nations is rising.
If and when the situation evolves to the next stage, South Korea could be excluded from key policy decisions related to the Korean Peninsula, including a peace regime for the peninsula and Northeast Asia. Nevertheless, the government continues to neglect deteriorating inter-Korean relations as a result of its tenacity to distance itself from the previous government. By prioritizing this tendency, rather than being focused on the nation and people, the government has no choice but to face criticism about the decisions it has made in this area.
Moreover, there have been no plans made for talks between South and North Korean authorities, in spite of the serious food shortage in North Korea. But before blame is doled out to those responsible, the government should first put a stop to the current situation. The government of President Lee Myung-bak is now on the verge of reshaping its major policy goals. The North Korea policy is among the things on the agenda that should be changed first.
Implementation of Inter-Korean Declarations Called for
Pyongyang, May 8 (KCNA) -- The north-south joint declaration serves as one of independent reunification common to the nation both in name and reality as it embodies the nation's desire and aspiration for independence and the nation's will for independent reunification and indicates the way of achieving it.
Rodong Sinmun today says this in a signed article.
It goes on: The Korean people have held fast to the joint declaration and worked hard to implement it for the past 8 years, thus registering great successes in the development of the inter-Korean relations and the movement for independent reunification. This vividly shows the validity and vitality of the declaration which gives priority to national independence.
The June 15 joint declaration has ushered in a new history of reconciliation and unity in the country.
In this course the structure of confrontation was formed with the Korean nation in one side and the U.S. in the other and the north and the south deeply grasped that to pool efforts of the Korean nation is the best way of achieving independent reunification. As a result, the banner of "By our nation itself" was raised higher across the country.
Last year the October 4 Declaration for Development of North-South Relations and Peace and Prosperity was adopted in Pyongyang. The adoption meant the provision of a historic program for more firmly defending and implementing the north-south joint declaration, a landmark event in encouraging the Koreans' will for independent reunification. When the Koreans hold fast to the historic June 15 joint declaration and October 4 declaration it would be possible to successfully solve all the issues arising in the way of achieving reunification and achieve the historic cause of national reunification, its cherished desire.
The "Grand National Party" conservative forces which recently came to power in south Korea are a group of sycophants and traitors as they put the interests of the foreign forces above those of the nation and seek dependence on the outsiders, not national independence. New difficulties have thus been laid in the way ahead of the movement for national reunification.
The south Korean conservative ruling forces' desperate moves to check the trend of independent reunification of the nation will only precipitate their destruction.
KCNA Blasts Fukuda Regime's Suppression of Chongryon
Pyongyang, March 18 (KCNA) -- Japan has intensified the suppression of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), a dignified organization of overseas citizens of the DPRK, and Koreans in Japan.
Chongryon has played the role of an overseas mission of the DPRK in the absence of the diplomatic relations between the DPRK and Japan. This status is recognized not only by the international community but by Japanese.
The Japanese authorities, however, have held trials to seize the Central Hall of Chongryon and its premises which have been used as a center for Chongryon's activities.
They also confirmed the policy for extending again the unilateral sanctions against the DPRK which call for putting an embargo on the ship "Mangyongbong-92", etc. under the pretext that there is no progress in the settlement of the "abduction issue".
A whirlwind of anti-Chongryon campaign is sweeping different parts of Japan including Kyoto and Osaka at the prodding of the Fukuda Cabinet. Actions are taken to search for Korean halls and schools and other Chongryon-related facilities, force sale upon them and write off them from the list of tax exemption and arrest Chongryon officials.
This reveals Japan's very hostile policy toward the DPRK and indicates that the present Japanese authorities are worse than the Abe regime in the wanton violation of the rights of Koreans in Japan.
As well known to the world, the Abe group was ousted from power as it staked its political fate on its hard-line policy towards the DPRK, clean indifferent to the interests of the Japanese people.
Far from drawing a serious lesson from it, the Fukuda Cabinet extended the sanctions against the DPRK, etc. as soon as it came to power, stoking bitterness towards Koreans in the archipelago of Japan.
There is a saying "One devil knows another". "Pressure and dialogue" are just the same as "dialogue and pressure" and the Fukuda regime's anti-DPRK and anti-Chongryon campaign has become craftier than what was conducted during the Abe regime.
The Fukuda Cabinet worked hard to create impression in the international community that it is somewhat different from the preceding cabinet. But its true colors have already been brought to light.
It pricked its own eyes with its own hands.
Japan is the only land of brazen-faced gangsters with the worst human rights record in the world because it has suppressed foreign residents en masse, regarding them as a lever for carrying out its policy of pressure upon their homeland, and has gone the lengths of trying to destroy their organization.
The relations between countries are one thing and the guarantee of legitimate status and national rights to foreign residents is another matter. The Japanese authorities can neither sacrifice the Koreans in Japan and Chongryon nor use them as hostages for achieving their political aims under any circumstances.
The Japanese reactionaries' short-sighted and desperate anti-DPRK and anti-Chongryon moves are, in fact, doing harm to the interests of Japan.
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Fukuda Regime's Hostile Policy towards DPRK Flayed
Pyongyang, March 18 (KCNA) -- The Japanese authorities are now becoming evermore undisguised in their moves to seize the Central Hall of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon). This clearly indicates how desperately they are staging the anti-DPRK, anti-Chongryon campaign, says Minju Joson Tuesday in a signed commentary.
The moves to destroy Chongryon that started when Abe was in power have become all the pronounced under the Fukuda regime, the commentary notes, and goes on:
The Fukuda regime is pursuing with increased zeal the anachronistic hostile policy toward the DPRK shaped by its predecessor who went to ruin.
The fact that it is following in the footsteps of its predecessor indicates that Japan's "sanctions" against the DPRK are proving absolutely futile.
Much upset by this, the Fukuda regime seeks to attain its sinister political purpose by suppressing the activities of Chongryon through the escalated anti-Chongryon campaign, inflicting greater pain upon the Koreans in Japan and thus putting pressure on the DPRK.
The Japanese authorities, however, are gravely mistaken if they calculate they can gain something by regarding Koreans in Japan as hostages and employing a sleight of hand. This will only bring into bolder relief their despicable true colors as those responsible for deliberately aggravating the DPRK-Japan relations and entail such consequences as precipitating their domestic and international isolation.
The people in the DPRK will never remain an onlooker to the Japanese reactionaries' anti-DPRK and anti-Chongryon campaign.
The Fukuda regime had better stop at once all its moves against the DPRK and Chongryon if it does not want to suffer what its predecessor did, warns the commentary.
Japan Accused of Standing in Way of Six-Party Talks
Pyongyang, February 19 (KCNA) -- Japan had better quit the six-party talks of its own accord, admitting it lacks any political ability to handle such sensitive and crucial issue as the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.
Minju Joson Tuesday says this in a signed commentary.
It goes on: Japan is taking much pain to turn the six-party talks into a platform for confrontation.
The participating countries, except Japan, took relevant actions to fulfil their commitments as required by the October 3 agreement.
It was only Japan that has not taken any move.
These days Japan seems to work hard to torpedo the talks, talking about "triangular cooperative system for pressurizing north Korea."
Clear is the aim sought by Japan in its moves to convert the multinational talks into a platform for confrontation.
It is working with bloodshot eyes to achieve its sinister political aim, remaining indifferent to the settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula. It is its ulterior motive to escalate its policy of pressure upon the DPRK under the pretext of the "abduction issue" and scuttle the above-said talks in case everything goes against its will.
What is more cynical is that its bad behavior has reached a shameless phase.
It is making no scruple of letting loose a spate of rubbish that "it is disappointed at the fact that no progress has been made" in the course of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula though more than one year has passed since the February 13 agreement was adopted.
Unlike other countries, Japan has no moral right to utter anything about the above-said matter because it has done all sorts of wrongs just to disturb the talks.
Its behavior of finding fault with this or that only reminds one of the scandalous action of the mentally deranged fellow.
New S Korean leader to face probe
South Korea's Constitutional Court has cleared the way for a special investigation into allegations of fraud against President-elect Lee Myung-bak.
The court dismissed a petition from Mr Lee's backers, which sought to halt the inquiry on the grounds that legislation authorising it was unconstitutional.
A special prosecutor will start working on the case next week.
Mr Lee won a landslide victory in last month's presidential election and is due to take office on 25 February.
Analysts believe the investigation is unlikely to be completed by then, and once Mr Lee takes office he will be immune from prosecution.
Video evidence
The 65-year-old former executive was dogged throughout his election campaign by allegations linking him to a financial scandal in 2001.
The case involved his alleged links to an investment firm at the centre of a share-rigging scandal.
In early December, prosecutors decided there was not enough evidence to charge Mr Lee.
But lawmakers then voted to re-open the case when a video emerged in which the president-elect was shown apparently saying he had established the scandal-hit company.
He denies the allegations and says his words have been taken out of context. Mr Lee's supporters claimed that clauses in the law authorising a fresh investigation were unconstitutional.
But the court ruled that while one part of the law - enabling investigators to question witnesses without a warrant - violated the constitution, the probe could go ahead.
Japanese Reactionaries' Anti-Chongryon Campaign under Fire
Pyongyang, December 4 (KCNA) -- The campaign being perpetrated by the Japanese reactionaries against the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) these days reveals before the world the brutal nature and moral vulgarity peculiar to Japan as they leave no means untried to
attain their criminal purpose in violation of laws and human rights, says Rodong Sinmun Tuesday in a signed commentary.
It is a trite method used by the Japanese reactionaries for suppressing Chongryon to fabricate shocking cases and stage a series of search operations to justify them, the commentary notes, and goes on:
The Japanese public security authorities are now busy stoking hysteric anti-Chongryon atmosphere after faking up cases one after another, raising a hue and cry over "suspected tax evasion" and the like. It admits of no argument that this is intended to paint the organization of Korean workers in commerce in Japan, a financial base of Chongryon, as an "organization engrossed in illegal acts" in a bid to invent a pretext for stamping out Chongryon and tear Korean traders and industrialists from it.
The Japanese reactionaries' suppression of Chongryon and Koreans in Japan is not confined to this only. They are beating the drum to step up the anachronistic hard-line policy towards the DPRK quite contrary to the trend of the international community and escalating their crackdown upon Chongryon, pursuant to the policy. The Japanese public security authorities' ceaseless anti-Chongryon campaign is not only a blatant infringement upon the rights of Koreans in Japan but a wanton violation of the dignity and sovereignty of the DPRK.
The DPRK would like to send a loud and clear message to the Japanese reactionaries.
Chongryon is a dignified overseas citizens' organization of the DPRK. The DPRK will never remain a passive on-looker to the Japanese reactionaries' such unethical and brutal criminal acts as harshly suppressing Chongryon in violation of the rights of Koreans in Japan including their vital rights but force them to pay for all their crimes without fail. The Japanese reactionaries should stop at once their reckless suppression of Chongryon.
Brisk Visits and Contacts among Koreans Called for
Pyongyang, October 21 (KCNA) -- In order to achieve the great unity of the whole nation it is necessary to actively realize visits and contacts, dialogue and solidarity and alliance, putting the common interests of the nation above anything else irrespective of ideology and system, political view and religious belief and interests of classes and strata.
Rodong Sinmun Sunday says this in a signed article.
Referring to the importance of the solidarity and alliance in the struggle to achieve the great unity of the whole nation, the article goes on: Korea remains divided into the north and the south due to outside forces and there exist differing ideologies and systems. Members of the nation differ from each other in political views and religious beliefs and there is also a gap between classes and strata in interests.
The Korean nation, a homogeneous nation, can trust and get reconciled with each other and achieve the national unity wherever they live, despite whatever differences. It is an important way of achieving the reconciliation and unity to realize visits and contacts, dialogue and solidarity and alliance among Koreans in the north and the south and abroad.
All the functions for reunification that compatriots of different social standings in the north and the south and abroad held visiting each other along the road opened up by the June 15 era of reunification in recent years have provided good occasions of deepening each other's interests and trust and clearly proved that the Korean nation can surely achieve the great unity under the banner of national reunification.
The Korean nation should steadily stir up the atmosphere of reconciliation and unity across the country and all organizations for the reunification movement at home and abroad should expand and develop the solidarity and alliance on a new higher stage with June 15 All-Korean Committee as an umbrella body under the banner of "By our nation itself".
Rodong Sinmun Calls for Reinforcing Non-Aligned Movement
Pyongyang, August 25 (KCNA) -- The DPRK government, regarding it as an iron rule governing its external activities to steadfastly adhere to the basic principle and idea of the non-aligned movement (NAM) and be loyal to it, will fulfill its responsibility and duty for its strengthening and development and victorious advance in the future, too.
Rodong Sinmun today says this in a signed article. It goes on: The DPRK became a full-fledged member of the NAM on August 25, 1975. It marked an important occasion in raising the international position and say of the DPRK and putting spurs to the strengthening of the NAM.
The DPRK's joining it helped elevate its authority and increase its role and influence.
The DPRK calls upon the member nations of the NAM to further consolidate the unity and solidarity in the struggle for defending sovereignty and take concerted action to make sure that the principle of respecting sovereignty is fully observed in handling the major pending issues including disarmament, human rights, anti-terrorism and UN reform. And the DPRK has conducted positive external activities in a bid to reenergize the NAM while paying deep attention to the actions to make sure that double standards are repudiated and the principle of equality and impartiality is observed in the international relations.
Today the NAM is faced with important tasks to be implemented by it to strengthen the solidarity and cooperation among its member nations and give fuller play to its ability of action in order to cope with the ever-changing international situation.
The NAM should preserve its basic principle and purity and thoroughly reject any attempts to divide and destabilize it. It should, at the same time, steadily strengthen its ability of action in the international fora including the UN.
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Immortal Feats Performed for Non-Aligned Movement
Pyongyang, August 24 (KCNA) -- August 25 observes the 32nd anniversary of the admission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea into the Non-Aligned Movement.
The Korean people take this opportunity to recollect the immortal exploits performed by President Kim Il Sung for the strengthening and development of the Non-Aligned Movement.
The President, who regarded NAM as an independent political force which made its appearance in the arena of history in reflection of the requirement of the independent times, wisely led the movement so that it could take anti-imperialism and independence, anti-war and peace as its basic idea in its activities.
He participated in the function held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Bandung Conference in April Juche 54 (1965) and conducted energetic activities for developing the NAM and strengthening the unity and solidarity among the Non-aligned and the developing countries.
He visited Algeria, then chair-state of the NAM, in May 1975 and had talks and conversations with leaders of the country to clarify that in order to develop NAM, it is imperative for the non-aligned nations to adhere to the principle of independence in politics, self-supporting in economy and self-reliance in defence, unite politically and cooperate economically and technically with each other.
The Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of non-aligned countries held in Lima, Peru, in August 1975 decided unanimously to admit into NAM the DPRK which made a great contribution to the cause of global independence under the uplifted banner of anti-imperialism and independence.
The President poured his heart and soul into the development of the movement in his closing days.
He attended the Fourth Conference of the Ministers of Information of Non-aligned Countries held in Pyongyang in June 1993 and delivered a historic speech "Non-aligned Information Services Must Contribute to the People's Cause of Independence".
He in the speech clarified that NAM is in essence a movement for making the whole world democratic and independent, the movement should be continuously developed as long as there remain on the globe the dominationist forces which pursue domination, interference, aggression and plunder and it should be further expanded and strengthened as the main force for building a new world. He thus solved the problems arising in the strengthening and development of NAM.
For his feats, the President was lauded as the "great leader of the world revolution" and the "outstanding leader of the Non-Aligned Movement" by heads of states and governments of non-aligned and developing countries.
DPRK History Society Flays Japan's Fabrication of "Jongmi Seven-Point Treaty"
Pyongyang, July 23 (KCNA) -- The Japanese reactionaries, seized with the wild ambition to realize overseas expansion, are now resorting to the shameless moves to embellish their crime-woven history of Korean aggression and justify and legalize it, far from sincerely admitting, apologizing and compensating for it.
The History Society of the DPRK issued a memorandum on July 23 in this regard in which it discloses how the "Jongmi Seven-Point Treaty", one of the "treaties" the "legality" of which is still asserted by the Japanese reactionaries, was fabricated and how Japan forced Korea to disband its army.
The memorandum recalls that Japan, to begin with, forced King Kojong to abdicate from the throne and fabricated the above-said treaty, adding that this was a prelude to its operation to completely annex Korea to Japan.
The memorandum goes on: The Japanese imperialists calculated that it was necessary to dethrone Kojong, first of all, in order to create conditions favorable for bringing under their control the right of Korea to administer internal affairs and annexing Korea to Japan in the future and, on this basis, began carrying out this scenario from the beginning of 1907.
On May 22, 1907, Hirobumi Ito met King Kojong and forced him to appoint Ri Wan Yong, a vicious pro-Japanese traitor, as head of the government of Korea. Then he forced Korea to take a swift retrogressive measure of introducing a "Cabinet system", drastically cutting down the power of the King and sharply increasing instead the power of the Cabinet with a view to building a mechanism whereby the pro-Japanese Cabinet could stand against King Kojong.
It was against this backdrop that there happened an incident in the Hague in June 1907 in which Ri Jun, emissary of Korean King Kojong, disemboweled himself at the Second International Peace Conference in protest against the Japanese imperialists' gangster-like aggression of Korea that stunned the world. They took this as the best chance to dethrone King Kojong and put the right of Korea to administer the internal under their complete control.
On July 7 Hirobumi Ito sent a message to the foreign minister of Japan in which he urged the need for the Japanese government to hold a discussion and make a decision at an early date on the issue of concluding a "treaty" for depriving Korea of its right to administer its internal affairs "in a legitimate manner." On July 10 the Japanese Cabinet thus adopted "Korea policy" aimed at usurping the above-said right of Korea and dethroning King Kojong.
Ito buckled down to forcing King Kojong to abdicate from the throne, to begin with.
At his instigation pro-Japanese stooges held a Cabinet meeting on July 16 at which they decided to dethrone King Kojong, holding him responsible for the above-mentioned incident, before informing the king of the decision.
Finding it hard to stand the persistent threat, blackmailing and pressure from the Japanese imperialists and pro-Japanese traitors, the king on July 19 was compelled to stamp his seal on a "royal edict" to the effect that "the crown prince shall take his place to handle military and state affairs," prompted by the desire to regain the throne in the future. This, however, was not the "royal edit" on transferring the throne.
The brazen-faced Japanese imperialists forced Korea to stage a ceremony of transferring the throne to Crown Prince Sunjong on July 20, asserting that Kojong's "royal edict" was the "royal edict" on abdication.
The king, under the pressure of the Japanese imperialists and pro-Japanese stooges, handed over a "royal edict" to the effect that the temporary title of Sunjong shall be replaced by the title of king on July 22.
This was how King Kojong was completely dethroned.
The crafty Japanese imperialists then started concocting a "treaty" aimed at depriving Korea of the right to administer its internal affairs as the next phase of their scenario to occupy Korea, as they pleased.
Pro-Japanese traitors held a Cabinet meeting where they all consented to a draft "treaty" proposed by the Japanese imperialists. The criminal "Jongmi Seven-Point Treaty" was formally signed between Ito and Ri Wan Yong.
The conclusion of the "treaty" which stipulated basic rights such as direct command, supervision and control by the resident-general provided the Japanese imperialists with a "legal groundwork" for formally and completely depriving Korea of the right to administer its internal affairs.
Ito and Ri Wan Yong also "signed" a confidential document for the thorough implementation of the treaty in the wake of its signing on July 24.
In this document the Japanese imperialists stipulated provisions calling for setting up new courts and jails under their control and disbanding the Korean army for the purpose of harshly suppressing the anti-Japanese struggle of the Korean people. This document also stipulated that Japanese "advisers" in the feudal government of the Ri Dynasty should be replaced by Japanese to hold national and local administrative posts.
This was, in fact, an evil document aimed at completely bringing down the Ri Dynasty and a false and fraudulent one without any legal validity like the "Jongmi Seven-Point Treaty."
From the viewpoint of international law, any treaty dealing with such important issues as the transfer of a state's right to administer internal affairs should be discussed and inked by the person with full mandate given by the head of state. But there is no evidence proving that they were given such mandate.
The "Jongmi Seven-Point Treaty" is an illegal document as it was signed between the government of the Ri Dynasty which had no right to conclude any treaty, being deprived of its diplomatic right under the "Ulsa Five-Point Treaty," and the "resident-general" having neither mandate nor qualifications to sign any treaty.
Strictly speaking, the "Jongmi Seven-Point Treaty" faked up between the Ri Dynasty without any diplomatic right and Japan, which deprived the former of the right, was a false document which lacked any validity because it was not a document made between the two sides but was unilaterally fabricated by Japan.
The memorandum recalls facts that the Japanese imperialists abolished King Kojong's prerogative of supreme command over the Korean army, comprehensively cut down the number of institutions and strength of the Korean regular army and, furthermore, forcibly disbanded the army, the core of the national power of Korea.
It continues: In a bid to deprive the Korean king of the prerogative of supreme command the Japanese imperialists pressurized King Kojong under the pretext of "advisory politics" to release a "royal order" on the "reform of military system" aimed at destabilizing the coordinated system of command over the military forces with the Russo-Japanese war in 1904 as a momentum.
Early in 1905 just before depriving Korea of her sovereignty the Japanese imperialist aggressors hatched a plot to drastically cut down the strength of the Korean army for fear that the armed forces of Korea might have been turned into an organized force including the anti-Japanese volunteer army for the anti-Japanese resistance of the Korean people.
After taking such step the Japanese imperialists systematically posted 62 officers and noncommissioned officers of the Japanese army in every branch of the Korean army till May 1907, putting not only the right to command the units but also the every move of Korean servicepersons under their strict watch and control.
The Japanese imperialists were so cunning as to fabricate a legal "justification" for the disbandment of the Korean army.
The first step in this respect was to issue the "royal edict" on the disbandment of the army.
The original of this "royal edict" in Japanese was discovered in Japan long ago. The results of the examination of the style involved in writing it proved that the edict was written by Resident-General Hirobumi Ito himself.
But the Japanese imperialists let the "royal edict" known throughout Korea by publishing it in the August 1 issue of "Kwanbo" which claimed that the disbandment of the Korean army would be carried out by the order of the king.
After laying a siege to the Korean army, disarming and disbanding it by the force of a false legal mechanism, the Japanese imperialist aggressors held a ceremony of disbanding the army.
Japan has incessantly committed aggression against Korea century after century since the Japanese pirates' invasion at the end of the Koryo Dynasty 800 years ago.
Japan would be well advised to behave itself, well aware that the Korean nation today is not what used to be in the past, and make an honest apology and compensation for the crimes it committed against the Koreans.