Press Statement of Jang Kum Chol, First Vice-Minister and Director General of Tenth Department of DPRK Foreign Ministry

Pyongyang, August 12 (KCNA) -- Jang Kum Chol, first vice-minister and director general of the Tenth Department of the DPRK Foreign Ministry, Wednesday issued the following press statement "The ROK's scheme for possessing a nuclear submarine, which constitutes a new dangerous element to the security in the Asia-Pacific region, will certainly meet stranding":

The ROK's scheme for possessing a nuclear submarine, which has recently entered the phase of practice, is amplifying the instability of the regional security environment.

The ROK, which announced in May the "Jangbogo-N Project" for the development and introduction of its own nuclear submarine by the mid-2030s, is now intensifying its moves to implement it.

At the first meeting of the "future defense strategy committee" held at the naval submarine command in Jinhae, South Kyongsang Province a few months ago, the chief executive of the ROK justified the development of nuclear submarine, claiming that the plan for building a nuclear submarine is an expression of the will to take responsibility for peace and security on the Korean peninsula.

The ROK Ministry of National Defense, too, clarified that the nuclear submarine will use low-enriched uranium fuel and the whole process of development and building will take place at home. Thus, it officially declared that the development of nuclear submarine has switched over to the stage of practice from the planning stage.

Early in June, a U.S. delegation led by the U.S. undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, which comprised officials of the State Department, the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense, visited the ROK to agree to accelerate the consultation on nuclear submarine and establish a tripartite cooperation framework for the introduction of small modular reactor between the U.S., Japan and the ROK. It is a typical example of the fact that the prior environment necessary for the ROK's development of nuclear submarine is being created.

The ROK's persistent attempt to possess nuclear submarine can never be regarded as a defense measure to cope with someone's "threat".

The ROK has secretly pushed ahead with its plan for building a nuclear submarine since 2003, more than 20 years ago. Such fact goes to prove that the ROK's ambition to possess nuclear submarine is neither a "reflective measure" to respond to the DPRK's possession of nuclear weapons nor a matter of defensive nature to cope with the "regional threat".

Obviously, the ROK harbors another ambition.

The ROK raised the issue of enriched uranium for nuclear fuel as an item of preferential solution prior to the design, hull building and reactor development of nuclear submarine and demanded the revision of the "U.S.-ROK Nuclear Agreement". The fact hints at many things.

It is the final goal of the ROK to secure the right to produce nuclear materials, free from the restraint of the item on reprocessing nuclear waste fuel and prohibiting uranium enrichment, and ultimately pave the way for making a leap forward to nuclear armament.

The secret intention of the ROK, which is working hard to develop a nuclear submarine with its own nuclear armament in sight, can never be diluted, no matter how it talks about the "nuclear threat" from someone or "building up of self-defense capabilities".

The ROK's possession of nuclear submarine will inevitably result in nuclear dominoes in the Asia-Pacific region.

Japan has already disclosed its ambition not to exclude all possible options for the introduction of nuclear submarine, throwing off the mask of the "Three Non-Nuclear Principles" with the ROK's scheme to possess nuclear submarine as an occasion.

The ROK's scheme to possess nuclear submarine is not a matter to be considered as the military ambition of a country.

This is part of the U.S. great strategy to build an axis of nuclear hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region with the proliferation of nuclear submarine as a vehicle and thus restructure the military balance in the global scale in favor of it.

The U.S.-Japan-ROK tripartite military cooperation system, which is turning into a nuclear alliance, and AUKUS, the U.S., UK and Australia nuclear submarine alliance, are already in existence in the Asia-Pacific region.

The ROK's possession of nuclear submarine will inevitably be a preparatory step for developing the U.S.-Japan-ROK tripartite military alliance into the "second AUKUS", and if the international community overlooks this, it will have no other choice but to face the waves of confrontation made by the U.S.-led nuclear submarine alliance in the Asia-Pacific region including the waters around the Korean Peninsula, the Taiwan Strait and the South Sea of China.

The geopolitical security environment in the Asia-Pacific region is facing a grave challenge due to the U.S. which oversteps the conception of alliance and openly connives and encourages the attempt of its allies to go nuclear and the ROK engrossed in greedy ambition.

The plan for developing a nuclear submarine agreed by Washington which granted a request of Seoul will further aggravate instability in the Korean Peninsula, and this constitutes a grave challenge to the security of our state and its maritime sovereignty and a security threat to be countered without fail.

The new reality of amplifying regional instability reminds us why it is the first national strategic affair to possess the most perfect and complex operational combat strength capable of reliably defending the maritime sovereignty of the state while initiatively and preferentially coping with any change of the security environment.

The possession of the unparalleled power capable of neutralizing all sorts of existing or newly-emerging potential threats and responding to any military attempt of the enemy states to provoke the strategic sovereignty security of our state with the retaliatory attack which make them impossible to survive and revive will be the most responsible option for deterring a war. -0-

International Affairs Analyst of DPRK on Japan's Policy of "Using Atomic Power"

Pyongyang, August 12 (KCNA) -- Ri Myong Nam, an international affairs analyst of the DPRK, Wednesday issued the following article "What does the policy of 'using an atomic power', timed to coincide with the Japanese high-ranking politicians' assertion of access to nuke, suggest?":

At a recent cabinet ministerial conference on the atomic power policy, Japan reportedly decided an action guideline calling for "making the utmost use of atomic power for energy security and decarbonization".

The essence of the guideline is to build 2~5 new nuclear reactors of the next generation by the 2040s and 11~14 reactors by the 2050s as regards the fact that the reactors of most domestic atomic power plants are superannuated, and to focus on investment, research and development and training of talents to this end.

At a glance, it is illuminated as a medium- and long-term plan for satisfying the daily-increasing domestic energy demand, but in view of the relations with the policy of atomic power pursued by Japan, the guideline contains a sinister and cunning strategic attempt that can never be overlooked.

It is an open secret that Japan planned to develop and use atomic bombs targeting the enemy states during World War II and has persistently pursued the possession of nuclear weapons so far.

Japan's atomic power policy is an extremely double-dealing and deceptive one as it has persistently pursued the nuclear armament under the specious name of "peaceful use of atomic power".

It is proved by the successive Japanese rulers from the Kishi Cabinet in the 1950s to the Abe Cabinet in the 2010s through Sato, Fukuta, Nakasone and Hata cabinets, who said that "Japan would have nuclear weapons if the requirement for defense was imminent", "Japan can have nuclear weapons for exclusive defense under the constitution," and "Japan is certainly capable of possessing nuclear weapons".

In fact, the Japanese government and the "Self-Defense Forces" have never stopped the internal examination on nuclear armament for the past decades, and it goes without saying that Japan's ambition for nuclear armament is based on the vast amount of nuclear material and nuclear technology seized through the operation of nuclear power plants at home.

Under the active patronage and connivance of the U.S., Japan is enjoying the privilege of extracting, stockpiling and reusing plutonium by reprocessing spent nuclear fuel among non-nuclear states. And it has now stockpiled 44.4 tons of plutonium and is planning to complete the spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant within this year.

Nuclear power plants in Japan have reportedly piled up large quantities of spent nuclear fuel rods which can be used in extracting plutonium at any time and their quantities have already approached the limit of storage capacity.

It is the opinion of experts that Japan, which has secured huge quantities of nuclear material and possessed sensitive nuclear technology for military purposes, has turned into a de facto "quasi-nuclear weapons state" capable of making nuclear weapons within several months once it is determined to do.

What should not be overlooked is the fact that the Japanese government's decision on the nuclear power-related guidelines is timed to coincide with the recent call for nuclear possession by ultra-right politicians.

The present Takaichi Cabinet, which emerged in October last year, is pushing ahead with neo-militarist internal and external policies such as the revision of the "Three Non-Nuclear Principles" and the possession of nuclear submarines, while the theory of nuclear armament is openly being discussed among high-ranking politicians including the minister of Defense and an assistant to the prime minister.

Japan is hell-bent on the deployment of various kinds of ultra-modern military hardware including Tomahawk cruise missile for actual war and the expansion of firing range with the back of its American master keen on maintaining military hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region. It is as clear as noonday that what the purpose of Japan is through a decision on guidelines related to medium and long-term atomic power.

It is the real intention of the Japanese ruling quarters in advertising "the maximum use of atomic power" to maximize the striking power of military hardware deployed for action in parallel with the building of military infrastructure possessed of preemptive attack means far beyond the territory of the archipelago.

Even now when 80-odd years have passed after the war, neo-militarist Japan is sharpening the sword of revenge while persistently denying its past history of aggression and advocating the "story of threats from neighboring countries". If Japan has nuclear weapons, a catastrophe unprecedented in history will surely come true.

Japan's nuclear armament, another malicious variable, seriously threatens the strategic security balance of the region along with the U.S.-Japan-ROK cooperation system which is evolving into a military bloc containing nuclear elements. The prevailing situation demands that the independent states in the region bolster up the war deterrent capable of overwhelmingly suppressing the dangerous military acts of the enemy countries.

If Japan, a war criminal state frantically dashing toward the threshold, hallucinated by militarism, persists in its nuclear weapons ambition, it will surely reach the tragic end of ruin of the whole of the archipelago.

The international community aspiring after justice and peace should never tolerate Japan's reckless and dangerous scheme for nuclear armament. -0-

New Sights of Bathing Beach

 

With the bathing season coming in the DPRK, the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area is crowded with an increasing number of tourists. A batch of new water amusement equipment was added to the excitement of bathers. 

Myongsasimni Water Park

 

Local tourists have a good time at Myongsasimni Water Park in the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area in the DPRK. The resort is located in the country’s renowned seaside spot on the East Sea of Korea.

Japan's Defense White Paper Is Reinvasion-minded One for Legalization of Operation of War Machine: International Security Analyst

Pyongyang, August 11 (KCNA) -- Kang Won Chol, an international security analyst of the DPRK, issued the following article "Japan's defense white paper is a reinvasion-minded one for the legalization of the operation of war machine":

Japan has been rushing headlong into militarization, seized with an ambition for reinvasion. Against this backdrop, it issued the 2026 Defense White Paper.

In the white paper, being rejected as the one for aggression at home and abroad, Japan groundlessly described the DPRK and other neighboring countries as a "serious and imminent threat" and the "greatest strategic challenge" in order to justify its reckless arms buildup.

It is nothing but an act of turning black into white that Japan stipulated the "threat" from neighboring countries in the white paper although it has been putting spurs to the tightening of the alliance with the U.S. and its followers after setting it as a "state policy" to negate its past crimes and realize its ambition to become a military power.

As everybody knows, Japan, a war criminal state responsible for inflicting a great disaster upon the humankind in the first half of the 20th century, refuses to discard the militarist ambition for reinvasion in the face of all the political and legal restrictions, and have been heading for its conversion into a military power out of vengeance for its defeat for over 80 years. This poses an imminent and serious threat to the world at present.

Following the publication of the white paper, Defence Minister Koizumi stressed the need to beef up and renovate the military muscle with a sense of urgency and crisis in response to the escalating threats from the neighboring countries. This clearly shows how desperately he is pushing Japan into following an extremely dangerous road in the vanguard for militarization.

The reality proves that Japan's political climate and true colors characterized by an aggression gene remain unchanged and mutate into more dangerous forms with each passing day.

No matter how hard Japan tries to describe its real intention for aggression as "defense", it will never conceal its true colors as a root cause of endangering the peace and escalating the tensions in the region.

To build up in every way an overwhelming and powerful war deterrent for self-defence capable of containing and frustrating the enemy states' ambition for reinvasion and their attempt to unleash an aggressive war serves as an indispensable contribution to reliably defending the sovereignty of the country and maintaining the regional peace and stability.

Japan's frantic moves to turn itself into a war state and invasion-minded state will only further endanger Japan's future.

The international community should sharpen vigilance against Japan's neo-militarist move to seriously destroy the regional peace and security and turn itself into a more dangerous entity each day, and strongly condemn and reject it. -0-

From Voice of Korea-Envisaging the People with Pleasure

 From Voice of Korea.

http://vok.rep.kp/index.php/detail_com/comde/iee260713001/57/en

Envisaging the People with Pleasure

A record downpour struck the northern border area of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on July 27, 2024. As a result, the water level of the Amnok River far exceeded the danger line and several island areas in the city of Sinuiju and Uiju County of North Phyongan Province suffered from flood damage.

Soon after the crisis occurred, the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, promptly committed powerful rescue forces of the People's Army and guided the operation for rescuing the inhabitants on the spot. Afterwards, he visited the flood-hit areas several times to turn the islands of disaster into the ones of paradise.

One day in November 2024, Comrade Kim Jong Un called at the sites of reconstruction of flood-hit areas in North Phyongan Province.

Looking at a full view of the construction site for a good while, he said he was really pleased to see sturdy banks and rural houses of various urban styles rising up competitively as they boasted of their original form in the safe zone.

He added that we had made a worthwhile and correct decision and brought about a great change with our own efforts by believing in them.

As he eagerly waited for the day when he could provide the flood victims with the best houses at an early date, he was so satisfied to picture to himself the people who would be happy with the new modern houses.

In retrospect, Comrade Kim Jong Un was always concerned about the people from the moment of flood damage. He got aboard a rubber boat to go round the inundated areas and visited the tents, in which the flood victims were living temporarily, despite the sultry weather to show warm affection to them.

Thanks to his warm sincerity for the people, modern houses could be built magnificently in the island areas once swept by natural disaster.

Law on Nationalization of Major Industries

Pyongyang, August 10 (KCNA) -- Today is the 80th anniversary of the promulgation of the law on nationalization of major industries by President Kim Il Sung.

Today the DPRK people are looking back with deep emotion on the feats performed by the President in leading the struggle for nationalization of major industries to victory so as to put the workers forward as the masters of the factories, the ones of the means of production.

Before Korea's liberation most of its industries were monopolized by Japanese imperialists and comprador capitalists. And this noticeably prevented its economic development.

After Korea's liberation (August 15, 1945) the President acquired a deep insight into the requirement of the developing revolution and organized and led the struggle for nationalization of major industries.

Factionalists completely infected with flunkeyism and dogmatists asserted that nationalization of industries should be carried out at the stage of the socialist revolution, and that all the industries nationalized. And they also insisted that industries should be owned by capitalists as the Korean revolution means the bourgeois revolution. They even argued that there is no need to promulgate the law on nationalization of industries because major industries belonged to the Korean people, following the defeat of the Japanese imperialists.

Taking into account the specific conditions of the country, the President set nationalization of industries, which was regarded as a task for the socialist revolution in the past, as an important task for the anti-imperialist, anti-feudal democratic revolution.

To realize nationalization of major industries, the President set forth the slogan "Factories to the Workers" and took such measures as the organization of factory committees assigned to seize and operate the industrial facilities and economic organs, the objects of nationalization, and the establishment of a well-regulated system of controlling and managing them within the people's government organs.

The President promulgated "Law on Nationalization of Industries, Transport, Communications, Banks and So On" on August 10, 1946.

According to the law on nationalization of major industries, more than 1 000 major industrial facilities amounting to over 90 percent of all the industries became all-people property.

Nationalization of major industries enabled our workers to become legitimate masters of factories and means of production and made it possible to use major means of production for the prosperity of the country and the promotion of the working people's wellbeing. -0-