BomMinRyon Activities
Action of Pomchonghakryon Reunification Vanguard Started in S. Korea
Pyongyang, August 4 (KCNA) -- The 21st-term Reunification Vanguard of the National Alliance of Youth and Students for the Country's Reunification (Pomchonghakryon) on August 1 started its action to stage a grand candlelight march for sovereignty and peace against war and conduct a struggle demanding renegotiations on American beef import and punishment of Lee Myung Bak and opposing Bush's trip to south Korea.
Jong Tok Won, chief of the vanguard, made an address at the ceremony of starting its action held in front of the U.S. embassy in Seoul on the same day.
He said that the vanguard would be organized around August 15 this year, too, to stir up the atmosphere of reunification across south Korea.
The organization will conduct its activities in real earnest with Bush's trip to south Korea as an occasion, he noted, adding:
It will vigorously wage information activities and struggle for peace against war in Seoul, Inchon and Kyonggi Province till August 7, holding high the slogans "Renegotiations on American beef import!" and "Opposition to Bush's trip to south Korea!"
After that it will stage an all-people grand candlelight march to punish the Lee Myung Bak "government" and retake the lost sovereignty, touring all parts of south Korea, divided into the east and west groups.
It is as clear as noonday that Lee Myung Bak's days will be numbered if he disregards and cracks down upon the people as the military dictators in the past did, the chief said.
Letters of protest to traitor Lee Myung Bak and Bush were read out at the ceremony.
The letters urged Lee to stop tightening the "alliance" for aggression with the United States, implement the June 15 joint declaration and the October 4 declaration and the United States to come out to the total renegotiations on beef import as soon as possible.
At the end of the ceremony the vanguard conducted information activities in different parts of Seoul.
DPRK Foreign Ministry's Spokesman on U.S. Lifting of Major Economic Sanctions
Pyongyang, June 27 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry gave the following answer to the question put by KCNA Friday as regards the U.S. announcement of its decision to lift major economic sanctions against the DPRK:
On June 26 the U.S. made public a decision on starting the process of taking the DPRK off the list of "state sponsors of terrorism" and exempting it from the "Trading with the Enemy Act" as a practical measure for lifting economic sanctions against the DPRK under the October 3 agreement reached at the six-party talks.
The DPRK appreciates and hails this as a positive measure.
What is important in the days ahead is for the U.S. to fundamentally drop its hostile policy toward the DPRK, a policy that compelled it to have access to a nuclear deterrent.
The measure taken by the U.S. to lift the major sanctions which it has applied against the DPRK, listing it as an enemy state for more than half a century, should lead to totally withdrawing its hostile policy toward the DPRK in all fields in the future.
Only then can the denuclearization process make smooth progress along its orbit.
Other participating nations of the six-party talks should also fully honor their commitments to make economic compensations in time as already promised.
The six parties should have the fulfillment of all their commitments verified and monitored on the principle of the September 19 joint statement which calls for denuclearizing the whole Korean Peninsula in a verifiable manner.
The DPRK will sincerely implement the September 19 joint statement, closely following each party's fulfillment of its commitment on the principle of "action for action" in the future, too, as it submitted a complete and accurate declaration on its nuclear activities this time in keeping with the U.S. measure for political compensation.
Crimes Committed by Lee Myung Bak Group during 100 Days of Their Office Brought to Light
Pyongyang, June 2 (KCNA) -- The National Reunification Institute made public a white paper Sunday disclosing the crimes committed by traitor Lee Myung Bak of south Korea for the past 100 days since the first day of his coming to power, talking about "lost decade."
The past 100 days of the conservative group's office are characterized by disgrace and crimes as it reduced south Korea to a complete colony of the U.S. and brought the north-south relations to collapse and made the dark clouds of confrontation and war hang over the Korean nation, the paper notes.
Citing facts to prove that Lee Myung Bak is the worst sycophantic traitor, the paper goes on: The traitor totally restored the humiliating master-servant relationship while talking about "tightened south Korea-U.S. alliance" quite contrary to the nation's desire for independence.
A particular mention should be made of the fact that during his junket to the U.S. in April he peddled "three principles for south Korea-U.S. alliance" such as "alliance based on value," "alliance based on confidence" and "peace-making alliance" and clang more tightly to the coattails of his American master, asserting that he would "upgrade south Korea-U.S. relationship to strategic alliance in the 21st century." (Yonhap News on April 16, 2008)
The ulterior aim sought by the Lee Myung Bak group in working hard to quell the desire of the nation for independence was brought to light when he made desperate efforts to delay the transfer of the "rights to command wartime operations" from the U.S., talking about "damaged alliance", although the transfer is scheduled to be made by April 2012.
It even disclosed its intention to take an active part in the U.S.-led PSI and the Missile Defence System which even its preceding regimes hesitated to do.
No sooner had the traitor come to power than he staged large-scale Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises after introducing U.S. imperialist aggression troops into south Korea and he is now contemplating hurling puppet forces' warships to the U.S.-led RIMPAC exercises for aggression slated to be staged in June. In February he held a "consultative meeting for the study of security" on Jeju Island by inviting there U.S. and Japanese military warhawks in a bid to knock into shape "triangular military alliance" for aggression. It adopted a "declaration" calling for establishing a triangular system for military cooperation and working out a joint military action plan and putting them into practice in "contingency." The Lee group also agreed to stage joint military exercises involving the U.S., Japan and south Korea from June. (Choongang Ilbo on February 20, 2008)
Lee Myung Bak reduced south Korea into a total colony of the U.S. in the economic field, too. Soon after his coming to power he went busy with the moves to conclude the south Korea-U.S. FTA and totally opened south Korea's market to American beef, thus committing such treachery as allowing American beef fraught with the danger of mad cow disease to find its way to south Korean market unhindered.
Lee also worked hard to Americanize south Korea's culture.
No sooner had Lee seized power than he proposed the "plan for intensified English education" unprecedented in history which calls for banning the use of Korean language but allowing the use of English only in school education from primary schools and adopted it as a policy.
He went the lengths of describing the actions taken by the ancestors to set fire to the U.S. pirate ship "General Sherman" and send it to the bottom of the river and their erection of "monuments to repelling aggressors' invasions" in different parts of Korea as a "big blunder" and raving that "such trouble should never be allowed to repeat itself." He even made the gesture of granting Korean names to U.S. ambassadors and brasshats of the U.S. imperialist aggression forces before their assumption of office in south Korea.
He was so insane as to name a general of the U.S. forces in south Korea "Ulji," surname of a famous patriotic commander of Korea, shortly ago. (Yonhap News on May 22, 2008)
Lee Myung Bak formed the "government" with pro-U.S. stooges and even appointed foreigners including American as policy advisers.
This traitor even blustered that he would let even a foreigner hold the ministerial post if necessary in the future. (Yonhap News on April 9, 2008)
He is holding Japan as dear as his ancestral tablet, keeping mum about the crimes committed by it in the past under the watchword of "new era of cooperation" and "future-oriented conception."
The white paper also cites facts to prove that Lee pushed the north-south relations to catastrophe.
The traitor negated the June 15 joint declaration, a great programme for national reunification in the new century, and the October 4 declaration, a programme for putting the joint declaration into practice, and stood in the way of their implementation.
Even before coming to power the traitor took issue with the above-said declarations, terming them "theory-like" and "abstract." As soon as he was elected "president" he openly negated what the preceding "government" agreed with the north, raving that the "new government" has no obligation to implement them." (Dong-A Ilbo on February 2, 2008)
The Lee group slashed every paragraph of the above-said declarations, putting up "pragmatism" as a slogan for its rule.
He opposed the first paragraph of the October 4 declaration, claiming that implementing it is little short of setting June 15 as a "national holiday" and accepting the federal formula. As for the paragraphs dealing with the north-south relations, he opposed them, asserting they are aimed to have the "National Security Law" repealed. As far as the paragraphs dealing with peace are concerned, he rejected them, claiming that they seek "the neutralization of the northern limit line" and "they are likely to cause a problem to security." And when referring to the paragraphs dealing with economic cooperation, he insisted he cannot accept them as they are tantamount to "a drain on resources under the pretext of economic cooperation."
The true aim sought by the Lee group in touting "no nukes, opening and 3,000 dollars" as "a policy toward the north" is to negate the June 15 joint declaration and the October 4 declaration and break the north-south relations.
The Lee group slandered the idea of "By our nation itself" clarified in the June 15 joint declaration as "narrow-minded nationalism" and "exclusionist nationalism." They are working hard to justify "no nukes, opening and 3,000 dollars" and getting noisier in the "nuclear racket" and "human rights row" against the DPRK, crying out for "open nationalism." This is nothing but a revelation of their intention to scrap the June 15 joint declaration and bring the inter-Korean relations to collapse.
The Lee group has deliberately evaded the commitments stipulated in the June 15 joint declaration and the October 4 declaration.
It has harshly persecuted and suppressed people of different social standings involved in the reunification movement in south Korea.
Its moves to incite confrontation with the DPRK found their vivid expression in letting loose bellicose outbursts against the DPRK and stepping up the preparations for a war of aggression against it.
Of late this group proposed the "resumption of dialogue" and the setting up of "south-north liaison offices". But this is nothing but a ridiculous ploy to hoodwink the public opinion and evade the responsibility for bedeviling the north-south relations.
The paper also lashed out at the Lee group for reducing south Korea to a dark land under the fascist dictatorship.
This group has directed all efforts to establishing undemocratic fascist dictatorship and has not bothered to purge anyone they deemed standing in the way of doing so even a bit.
This group has also become all the more frantic in suppressing political opponents and progressive forces involving people of various social strata.
Not a few politicians including those who ran for presidency as candidates from ruling and opposition parties have been subject to the persecution and investigation by fascist prosecution after becoming targets of political reprisal by Lee. There appeared again riot police equipped with cushion helmet, shield and electric shock devices as well as water cannons and "Paekgoldan" which earned ill-fame during the fascist regime in the past. The "summary trial system" calling for punishing the accused without going through the procedures of public trial was restored in south Korea.
The Lee group's fascist true nature found a vivid manifestation in their brutal suppression of the wide-spread struggle waged by people from all walks of life in south Korea.
This group malignantly slandered even the heroic popular resistances waged by south Koreans in the past.
A typical example of this is that the "New Right Textbooks Forum", a political force backing the traitorous group, published a textbook in March describing traitor Park Chung Hee's "May 16 military coup" as a "revolution" and distorting and downplaying the movement for democratization waged by south Koreans from all walks of life including the April 19 popular uprising and the May 18 popular uprising. (Thongil News on April 24, 2008)
All what has happened in south Korea are awful consequences and tragic product of treacherous "pragmatism" advocated by Lee Myung Bak.
The conservative group of south Korea is now making desperate efforts to prolong its dirty remaining days but with nothing can it stem the trend of the times and the desire of the nation for independence, democracy and reunification, concludes the paper.
Rodong Sinmun Calls for Adhering to Three Principles of National Reunification
Pyongyang, May 3 (KCNA) -- The three principles of national reunification call for solving the issue of national reunification independently on the principle of national self-determination free from interference of outsiders, reunifying the country peacefully without a recourse to arms and promoting the great unity of the entire nation irrespective of differing ideology and system. They, therefore, serve as the most just programme for reunification and a charter for reunification common to the nation as they reflect the desire and will of the Korean nation for reunification, says Rodong Sinmun Saturday in a signed article.
It is 36 years since President Kim Il Sung advanced the three principles, the article says, stressing that in this period they gave a powerful impetus to the nation's movement for reunification and their validity and vitality have been fully proved.
It goes on: The three principles of national reunification indicate principles and ways of reunifying the country in a smooth way without any deviation in reliance upon the concerted efforts of the Korean nation as they were advanced with the nation's requirements for independence and its interests, the essence and nature of the issue of the national reunification and the present state of national division into due consideration.
The three principles are clearly reflected in the June 15 joint declaration, the article says, calling upon all the Koreans in the north and the south and abroad to vigorously push forward the movement for national reunification by their concerted efforts under the uplifted banner of the three principles and thus successfully carry out the President's last instructions for national reunification.
All Koreans Urged to Remain True to Three Principles of National Reunification
Pyongyang, March 27 (KCNA) -- The three principles of national reunification --independence, peaceful reunification and great national unity -- and the idea of "By our nation itself," an embodiment of the principles, serve as an invariable banner in the June 15 era of reunification to be consistently held aloft by all Koreans no matter what wind may blow.
Rodong Sinmun Thursday says this in a signed article. It goes on:
"By our nation itself" fully represents the idea of national independence and peaceful reunification, the idea of defending peace and the idea of the great national unity in the June 15 era of reunification.
he reunification of the country is a matter to be settled by the Koreans themselves and an issue related to the sovereignty of the nation.
As the U.S. imperialists, who divided the Korean Peninsula into two parts, are desperately hamstringing the efforts to achieve national reconciliation, unity and reunification while interfering in the internal issues of the Korean nation, it is more important than anything else to maintain independence and strictly abide by the Juche-based stand of the nation, while categorically rejecting and opposing flunkeyism and dependence upon foreign forces.
National reunification should be achieved by peaceful means without recourse to force of arms.
The differences in ideologies and systems cannot be solved by use of force and it is necessary, therefore, to achieve the reunification of the country by peaceful means under all circumstances, putting aside all differences.
It is the great national unity of the Korean nation that can frustrate the moves of the separatist forces at home and abroad against national reunification and advance the movement for it. The eye-opening successes made in the above-said movement since the adoption of the June 15 joint declaration convincingly prove that the might of the Koreans united close in the idea of "By our nation itself" provides a sure guarantee for the victory in the cause of independent reunification.
Specific methods may vary according to the change of the situation in the struggle for national reunification, but fundamental principles of national reunification can never change, concludes the article.
Rodong Sinmun on History of Songun Revolutionary Leadership
Pyongyang, February 5 (KCNA) -- The whole history of Kim Jong Il's Songun revolutionary leadership is the sacred revolutionary history of a great revolutionary and statesman which cannot but be called a forced march, says Rodong Sinmun Tuesday in a signed article.
The forced march is a mode of activity and leadership peculiar to Kim Jong Il, a mode which runs through his revolutionary activities.
He considered it as an immovable creed to complete the Korean revolution in the spirit of forced march that started on Mt. Paektu and by the mode of forced march in the course of hewing out the way of the unprecedentedly arduous and rigorous revolution together with President Kim Il Sung long ago. Kim Jong Il adorned the whole course of revolutionary leadership with ceaseless forced march.
He has continued making the forced march in the whole course of revolutionary leadership, deeply aware of his noble mission and confident that the harder he works, the richer and stronger the country becomes and the happier its people get. The immensely valuable tradition and wealth for the victory of the Juche revolution would be unthinkable without his tireless efforts and zeal.
In the course of weathering out hardships and ordeals to remain loyal to the leader, the Korean people learned from his spirit of making a forced march, acquired such strong idea and faith as struggling the way he did and emerged heroes in creation who know nothing impossible.
His history of the forced march is a precious history of struggle as he has worked exceptionally hard not merely for today but for the prosperity of the country and nation in the distant future.
"Love Future!" is a slogan put up by him while making an endless forced march with a revolutionary view on life that one must live not merely for today but for future.
This forced march is a continuation of the long journey of the forced march made by President Kim Il Sung all his life.
Kim Jong Il set out on the road of the revolution after making a firm pledge to glorify Korea true to the intention of the President and has since carried out the forced march for several decades to honor his pledge.
Every day of his forced march was characterized by his profound love and devotion to the country, the revolution and the people.
Kim Jong Il has always emerged victorious in the struggle with his indomitable will, reacting to the enemy's hard-line policy with the toughest stand with the fixed faith and grit that he who laughs last laughs longer by holding higher the red flag of the revolution whenever the situation got more difficult.
An immensely rosy future is in store for the country thanks to the dynamic leadership of Kim Jong Il who has glorified sacred history of the Songun revolution with endless forced march.
DPRK Foreign Ministry Spokesman on Issue of Implementation of October 3 Agreement
Pyongyang, January 4 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK released the following statement Friday as regards the delay in the implementation of the October 3 agreement made at the six-party talks:
It is beyond Dec. 31, 2007, the deadline set in the Oct. 3 agreement.
It is regrettable that points agreed there remain unimplemented except the disablement of the DPRK's nuclear facilities.
The disablement started early in November last year and all the operations were completed within the "technologically possible scope" as of Dec. 31.
At present, the unloading of spent fuel rods scheduled to be completed in about 100 days is underway as the last process.
However, the delivery of heavy fuel oil and energy-related equipment and materials to the DPRK, commitments of other participating nations, has not been done even 50 per cent.
The schedule for the monthly delivery of heavy fuel oil as well as the delivery of energy-related equipment and materials and relevant technical processes are being steadily delayed.
The U.S. has not honored its commitments to cross the DPRK off the list of "sponsors of terrorism" and stop applying the "Trading with the Enemy Act" against it.
Looking back on what has been done, one may say that the DPRK is going ahead of others in fulfilling its commitment.
As far as the nuclear declaration on which wrong opinion is being built up by some quarters is concerned, the DPRK has done what it should do.
The DPRK worked out a report on the nuclear declaration in November last year and notified the U.S. side of its contents.
It had a sufficient consultation with the U.S. side after receiving a request from it to have further discussion on the contents of the report.
When the U.S. side raised "suspicion" about uranium enrichment, the DPRK allowed it to visit some military facilities in which imported aluminum tubes were used as an exception and offered its samples as requested by it, clarifying with sincerity that the controversial aluminum tubes had nothing to do with the uranium enrichment.
As far as the fiction about nuclear cooperation with Syria is concerned, the DPRK stipulated in the October 3 agreement that "it does not transfer nuclear weapons, technology and knowledge". This is our answer to this question.
This was also done in line with the prior discussion with the U.S. side.
All facts go to clearly show what is the reason behind the delayed process of the implementation of the October 3 agreement.
Consistent in all agreements reached at the six-party talks including the September 19 joint statement is the principle of "action for action".
Now that other participating nations delay the fulfillment of their commitments, the DPRK is compelled to adjust the tempo of the disablement of some nuclear facilities on the principle of "action for action."
The DPRK still hopes that the October 3 agreement can be smoothly implemented should all the participating nations make concerted sincere efforts on the principle of simultaneous action.
Koreans Called upon to Give Momentum to Atmosphere of Reconciliation and Unity
Pyongyang, December 13 (KCNA) -- All Koreans are called upon to give further momentum to the atmosphere of reconciliation and unity and boost their solidarity and alliance with a view to proudly glorifying the June 15 era of reunification and bringing earlier the historic day of independent reunification. This call is made by a signed article of Rodong Sinmun Thursday.
Unity is what keeps the nation alive and serves as an engine propelling the cause of reunification, the article says, and goes on: For the Koreans, a homogeneous nation, the issue of unity is vital to the nation and indispensable for the national prosperity. Koreans should go united not only for their existence but for national prosperity and the demonstration of the might of the nation to the world.
National unity is essentially required by the nature and characteristics of the struggle for national reunification.
Koreans were not split because of any contradictions and conflicting elements within the nation. The issue of Korea's reunification is not aimed to eliminate any contradictions within the nation or remove institutional antagonism but to rejoin the blood ties of the nation severed by the foreign forces and achieve national reconciliation.
It is unbearable national misfortune and tragedy for the Koreans to have been forced to live separated in the north and south for over six decades due to the outside forces. All Koreans should go united in order to put an end to this tragedy of the national history at an early date. The reconciliation and unity of the entire nation precisely mean the reunification of the country.
Outsiders and ultra-right conservatives of south Korea, their lackeys, have spoken ill of "By our nation itself," the idea common to the nation, by hook or by crook, displeased with it. Lurking behind this is their sinister intention to deter the Koreans from achieving the national unity and foster antipathy and confrontation among fellow countrymen.
All Koreans should work harder to achieve the unity of the entire nation on the basis of the achievements made in the course of the struggle for unity.
Resolution "Peace, Security and Reunification of Korean Peninsula" Adopted at UN
Pyongyang, November 6 (KCNA) -- The resolution "Peace, Security and Reunification of Korean Peninsula" jointly proposed by the north and the south of Korea was unanimously adopted at the plenary session of the 62nd UN General Assembly on October 31.
Convinced that dialogue and cooperation between the north and the south of Korea are essential for ensuring peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, the resolution hailed and supported the north-south summit meeting and the "Declaration for the Development of North-South Relations and Peace and Prosperity" in October 2007.
The resolution encouraged the north and the south in their efforts to fully and faithfully implement the declaration and thus consolidate peace on the Korean Peninsula and lay a solid foundation for achieving peaceful reunification and called upon the member nations of the United Nations to support the process of dialogue, reconciliation and reunification of the north and the south and contribute to peace and security not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in other parts of Northeast Asia and, furthermore, in the rest of the world.
Declaration for Development of North-South Relations and Peace and Prosperity
Pyongyang, October 4 (KCNA) -- A declaration for the development of north-south relations and peace and prosperity was made public in Pyongyang Thursday.
The declaration is as follows:
President Roh Moo Hyun visited Pyongyang from October 2 to 4, 2007 under an agreement reached between Kim Jong Il, chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission, and Roh Moo Hyun, president of the Republic of Korea.
Historic meetings and talks were held in the period of the visit.
The meetings and talks reconfirmed the spirit of the June 15 joint declaration and frankly discussed all issues related to boosting the north-south relations, achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula, prosperity common to the nation and reunification.
Expressing the belief that the nation can open up the era of national prosperity, the new era of independent reunification, when it pools intention and strength, both sides declare as follows to boost the north-south relations on the basis of the June 15 joint declaration:
1. The north and the south shall uphold and positively implement the June 15 joint declaration.
The north and the south agreed to independently solve the reunification issue in the spirit of "By our nation itself", put the dignity and interests of the nation above all and orientate everything to this objective.
The north and the south agreed to push ahead with the matter of commemorating June 15 reflecting the will to invariably implement the joint declaration.
2. The north and the south agreed to definitely convert the north-south relations into those of mutual respect and confidence irrespective of differing ideologies and systems.
They agreed not to interfere in the internal affairs of the other side but solve problems related to the north-south relations in favor of promoting reconciliation, cooperation and reunification.
They agreed to adjust their legal and institutional mechanisms with a view to developing the north-south relations to meet the purpose of reunification.
They agreed to positively promote dialogues and contacts in all fields including parliaments of both sides to solve all the issues related to boosting the inter-Korean relations in line with the desire of the nation.
3. The north and the south agreed to closely cooperate with each other in the efforts to put an end to the hostile military relations and ensure detente and peace on the Korean Peninsula.
They agreed not to antagonize each other but to ease the military tension and settle disputes through dialogues and negotiations.
They agreed to oppose any war on the peninsula and faithfully honor the commitment of non-aggression.
The north and the south agreed to hold the talks between the minister of the People's Armed Forces of the north side and the minister of National Defence of the south side in Pyongyang within November this year with a view to discussing measures for building military confidence including the proposal for fixing waters for joint fishing in order to prevent accidental clashes in the West Sea and turning them into peaceful ones and the issue of providing military guarantees for various forms of cooperation undertakings.
4. The north and the south shared the understanding about the need to put an end to the existing armistice mechanism and build a lasting peace mechanism and agreed to cooperate with each other in the efforts to push forward the issue of arranging the meeting of the heads of state of three or four parties directly concerned on the Korean Peninsula and declaring an end to a war.
They agreed to make joint efforts to ensure the smooth implementation of "September 19 joint statement" and "February 13 agreement" made at the six-party talks for the solution of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.
5. The north and the south agreed to reenergize economic cooperation and make its sustained development on the principles of ensuring common interests and co-prosperity and meeting each other's need with a view to ensuring balanced development of national economy and achieving common prosperity.
The north and the south agreed to encourage investments for economic cooperation and energetically push forward the construction of economic infrastructure and development of resources and grant various kinds of preferential treatment and special privilege to suit the peculiarities of cooperation undertakings between compatriots.
The north and the south agreed to establish "special area for peace and cooperation in West Sea" covering Haeju area and waters off its surrounding areas and positively push forward undertakings including the issue of setting waters for joint fishing and those for peace, construction of special economic zone, active use of Haeju Port, direct passage of civilian vessels through Haeju Port and joint use of the estuary of the River Rimjin.
The north and the south agreed to complete the construction of the first-phase project of the Kaesong Industrial Zone at an early date, start its second-phase development, begin the railway freight transport between Munsan and Pongdong and rapidly take all the measures for institutional guarantees including the issues of passage, communications and customs clearance.
They agreed to discuss and push forward the issue of reconstructing and repairing the railways between Kaesong and Sinuiju and the motorway between Kaesong and Pyongyang in order to jointly use them.
They agreed to build zones for cooperation in ship-building in Anbyon and Nampho and conduct cooperation undertakings in different fields including agriculture, healthcare and environmental protection.
They agreed to upgrade the present "North-South Committee for the Promotion of Economic Cooperation" to the "joint committee for inter-Korean economic cooperation" at vice-premier's level for the satisfactory promotion of inter-Korean economic cooperation.
6. The north and the south agreed to develop the exchange and cooperation in the social and cultural fields such as history, language, education, science and technology, culture and arts and sports to add shine to the time-honored history and fine culture of the Korean nation.
They agreed to start the tour of Mt. Paektu and inaugurate the Mt. Paektu-Seoul direct flight to this end.
They agreed to let the cheering groups of the north and the south participate in the 2008 Beijing Olympics by using the train to run on the west coastal railroad for the first time.
7. The north and the south agreed to positively push forward the humanitarian cooperation undertakings.
They agreed to expand the meeting of separated families and relatives and go ahead with the work to exchange video correspondence.
To this end, the north and the south agreed to permanently post representatives of both sides at the reunion centre at Mt. Kumgang resort when completed with a view to putting the reunion of separated families and relatives on a regular basis.
They agreed to positively cooperate with each other in case of calamities including natural disaster on the principle of compatriotism, humanitarianism and mutual support and assistance.
8. The north and the south agreed to strengthen the cooperation in the efforts to meet the interests of the nation and rights and interests of overseas Koreans on the international arena.
The north and the south agreed to hold the talks between the premier of the north and the prime minister of the south for the implementation of this declaration and decided to hold its first meeting in Seoul within November this year.
The north and the south reached an agreement on ensuring that the top leaders of both sides meet from time to time to discuss pending issues for the purpose of developing the inter-Korean relations.
October 4, 2007
Pyongyang
Kim Jong Il // Roh Moo Hyun
Chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission // President of the Republic of Korea