North Korea Leadership Watch

Research and Analysis on the DPRK Leadership

Silence Broken

The North Korean has broken its silence on two (2) recent events.  In a rather timely edition from the KCNA’s Japan-based website–which is to say there’s actually a real-time KCNA bulletin–the KCNA writes of the return to the DPRK of the survivors of a shipwreck that occurred last week (on 17 Nov.  The Jiasong 5, which was sailing between Nampho and Dalian, lost radio contact during a storm on 17 November.   This report allows the DPRK to show off its tight connection to China: “thus showing the Chinese people’s spirit of helping the Korean people and contributing to bringing into bloom the traditional DPRK-China friendship.”  KCNA also notes that “the crewmen while braving the violent waves thought about taking good care of the portraits of President Kim Il-sung and General-Secretary Kim Jong-il, first of all, deeply touching people.”

While not referring to US President Obama’s recent trip to the neighborhood, KCNA offers a retread of a Rodong Sinmun editorial concerning DPRK-US relations.  Among other things, the editorial says that, “It is impossible to prevent the recurrence of war and any accidental armed conflict with the outdated DPRK-U.S. armistice agreement, which has already been reduced to no more than wastepaper due to the U.S. perfidy.”  I have included this particular passage in the event any readers are studying for the SAT or GRE and may want to brush up on their vocabulary.

 

Information

This article was written on 24 Nov 2009, and is filled under DPRK External Relations, DPRK-China Relations, DPRK-US Relations, North Korean press.

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