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the editorial says that, “It is impossible to prevent the recurrence of war and any accidental armed conflict with the outdated DPRK-U.S. armistice agreement, which has already been reduced to no more than wastepaper due to the U.S. perfidy.”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.