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Two Pillars of the North Korean Regime, Information Politics and the Reign of Terror

Monday, October 17th, 2005

Daily NK
Han Young Jin
10/17/2005

Many people wonder about how North Korea is maintains despite the chronic food crisis and many other difficulties it suffered for a long time.

In South Korea, people would have organized more than a dozen of popular riots.

What would be behind the silence in North Korea? The answer is the notorious two pillars in North Korea, information politics and the reign of terror.

The National Security Agency in North Korea is the core agency for information politics. Since the Chief of Agency Lee Jin Su died in August, 1987, no other head of the agency was appointed. The role was taken over by Jang Sung Taek, #1 vice director of Organization and Guidance Department, and Kim Young Ryong, the former National Security Agency #1 Director (deceased in 1998).

Kim Jong Il directs the agency himself, making them believe his right over the agency is that the agency is for the security of the Supreme Commander, which is himself.

There are about 50,000 employees under the National Security Agency and its branch offices. It is estimated that about 20,000 are directly involved in the information activities. This means there is one agent per 1,000 North Koreans.

The security agents secure their sources individually, train them and collect information in their secret places. Even among the peers and friends, all the people mistrust each other because they do not know who the sources are for the agents.

According to the agency principles, even among agents have double or triple layers of supervision. One of the main reasons why the anti-regime force did not become active remains in this very system of mistrust

The North Korean regime, through the collective living style, ▲encourages mutual criticism and self criticism and increases mistrust among them, ▲The agents keep watch of the people and arrest them, ▲ the safety agency (police) make sure people do not meet in group through the people’s department. This is the reality of North Korea.

Securing Sources, Training in Secret Places

Security sources and training is done according to the characteristics of the agent. The agency runs secret places especially for training.

In November 12, 1992, Kim Jong Il changed the name of the National Security Agency to the National Safety and Security Agency and ordered to strengthen the training in crack down the anti-party, anti-revolution forces.

It was in 1993 when such secret places were made. It was of course made in top secret. Those involved in building such secret places believe they must be apartments for high level officials, such as honorary revolutionists of the independent movement (against Japan) or war heroes. However, these “luxurious apartments” were for the people receiving training, who spend ten to fifteen days there.

Because there is danger of discovery of identification, only one person is trained at a time. Those who leave home for the training their wives they are leaving for work.

Training is done directly by the secretary of the agency or designated security agents. They give off the belief, saying, “With the trust of the Great Commander, 00 (name of the trainee) is to engage in the national security activities.”

The agent provides professional training to the trainee such as how to approach the targets, inducement to conversation, such reporting. After the training, they are sent back to their workplaces.

The persons in charge of the secret places are selected among the sources, and he is to cut of all the contact to the outside world. Looking at expensive cars going in and out of a remote place, people are only wonder about what kind of house it would be.

Even the Former Detention Camp Prisoners and Wanderers Selected

The security agents have their own ways of contacting each other such as leaving memos under a rock, between a crack on factory walls, or inside a rotten tree trunk. The agents even select former prisoners and wanderers as one of their sources, but they are not given the special training session.

This is because only through such sources information about anti-regime or anti-party forces could obtained. The agents use both credence and threat to manipulate their sources. Sometimes, they used to give compensation as much as 100Won (in 1990, average worker’s monthly wage was 70Won), but after the food crisis, such cash awards stopped altogether.

There also exist some conflicts between the agents and the sources. In local place, one of the sources asked his agent to issue him a travel permit. When he could not, the source spread a rumor that “the National Security Agency has less power than the Safety Agency” which made a big issue in the region.

There is no compensation for providing high level information while people get arrested for ambiguous things they commit, so the people who were selected as sources become distressed. Recently, there is an increase of the people who prefer to not cooperate with the agents.

Also it is known that the information agents (sources) and the security agents together take advantage of their status. The sources report the security agents of the people who do business with prohibited goods such video tapes from another country, and they make benefit themselves by confiscating of all such goods.

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Posted in Ministry of State Security (MPSS, NSA, SSD), Organization and Guidance Department, Political economy | Comments Closed

Kim Jong Il Offers $20 Million Worth of Gifts

Saturday, October 8th, 2005

Daily NK
Han Young Jin
10/18/2005

Kim Jong Il’s politics of gift is a well-known practice. On only on the birthdays of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, but also on the day of party establishment and other national and traditional holidays.

The reason why Kim Jong Il distributes gifts to the people is to increase level of obedience and make them express gratitude towards “the Commander’s special grace.” Although it may look like a lousy way of convincing people to the South Koreans, to the North Korean people, it had been a long tradition. The reason why they offer gifts to the participants to the Arirang Performance lies along the same line. Although gift offering did exist in other former communist countries, but the level of practice is incomparably higher in North Korea.

Kim Jong Il sends to gifts to about 20,000 people every holiday, and the amount he spends on these gifts is about $20 million US dollars every year.

There was special food distribution on the day of 60th Anniversary of the Party Establishment. Apart from food distribution there is a separate group of people who receive special gifts. The number of them reach to 20,000, who are core members supporting the Kim Jong Il dictatorship.

The receivers include the family members of the liberation movement activists against Japanese colonialism, initial communists (palchisan), the party, high level officials and the military. The members of the initial communists are only about 300 in number. Kim Il Sung ordered, “The party must take care of the sons of the palchisan down to three generations” so they are entitled to special treatment.

The bereaved family department of the Worker’s Party takes care of these families. The sons and grandsons receive free education up to university, offered jobs and free cars as well as housing.

5,000 Entitled to Special Treatment

The people entitled to special treatment reach up to 5,000. The first level cadres such as of the Central Party, the People’s Arm Force, guard commanders and military commanders are entitled as main distribution everyday. The ministers of the cabinet and vise ministers are smaller in number and in a level lower than the military and party cadres.

The people entitled to gifts on the three main holidays (New Year’s Day, birthdays of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il) number to 15,000. They are the cabinet cadres and military cadres above commanding officer level and cadres of different levels such as families of those sent abroad (for espionage and information gathering), foreign business workers and bereaved families.

The representatives of the Supreme People’s Assembly and provincial party secretaries, chiefs of the People’s Committee, Central Procurator’s Office, Central Court, National Security Agency, Security Office and other provincial level cadres also receive gifts from Kim Jong Il the three main national holidays. High level officials whose rank is as high as the central party secretaries in local cities and counties too are on the list of the gift receivers.

Managed by Keumsusan Accounting Department

Sending out of gifts under Kim Jong Il’s name is managed by the Keumsusan Accounting Department. All the cadres of secretarial level and above in the Central Organization and Guidance Department receive electronics, clothes and even food from Japan and South Korea. They always receive enough to eat that they prefer to receive more electronics than food.

The secretaries of the Worker’s Party and the cabinet ministers receive the most luxurious gifts they can possibly get. The gifts include two pairs of suits, two bottles of expensive imported liquor, expensive underwear, clocks with Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il’s names engraved, expensive refrigerators and color TV.

The workers of the Keumsusan Accounting Department visit each government agencies and offices with the gifts in refrigerating truck used specifically gift delivery. They call the receivers in secret and distribute the gifts with vouchers.

At the time, the receivers bow to the portrait of Kim Jong Il and say, “We will repay the high political confidence and grace of the Great Leader Commander Kim Jong Il with our loyalty (devotion).”

In case of the cabinet members or military officials where the receivers are only a small number, the truck of the Keumsusan Accounting Department delivers the gifts to the houses. In local places, they gather the receivers in one place and hold a small ceremony for the gift distribution. For the local receiver, the gifts include two bottles of expensive liquor, a box of tangerines, foreign sweets, one pair of suit, and a cartridge of cigarettes, “Pyongyang.”

20 Million USD on Gifts Every Year

The defector who has an expertise in the matter says the amount of money Kim Jong Il spends on gifts every year reaches up to 20 million US dollars. The Keumsusan Accounting Department had been taking 1% of the annual national budget and directly ordered gifts from foreign countries.

He says recently, the responsibility of purchasing gifts transferred to the United Front Department of the Central Party. “As it became responsibility of the United Front Department of the Central Party to purchase the gifts, some of the gifts sent from South Korea have turned into Kim Jong Il’s gifts to the cadres under his name,” he added.

Some gifts come back to Kim Jong Il in peasant, roe, honey and mountain (wild) ginseng from the people.

Cadres do not talk about what they have received. In sometime early 1980s, Kim Jong Il once offered Benz cars to the cadres of the United Front Department and Organization and Guidance Department of the Central Party, and the cadres fought over the color of the cars. After criticisms from Kim Jong Il, cadres are not allowed comment on the gifts they received.

However, the cadres who have received gifts do not hide that they received gifts. Some of them gather the people from the department to their offices or homes and share “the Commander’s gifts.”

The party notifies the worker’s about gift receivers to arouse more fidelity out of the people by letting the party workers know that responsible workers receive special treatment and to show off that Kim Jong Il love and trusts the workers.

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Posted in Central Miltary Committee, Political economy, Worker's Party | 2 Comments »

NK’s Chang Song-taek Ousted Completely: Intelligence Sources

Tuesday, September 27th, 2005

Korea Times
Park Song-wu
9/27/2005

The Pyongyang regime has described Chang Song-taek, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s former right-hand man, as a “tree’’ that is now cut off, sources well-informed of the North’s power structure in Seoul said on Tuesday.

Chang, Kim’s brother-in-law and a confidant until purged in late 2004 for an alleged bid to enhance his power, was predicted to return to the Workers’ Party because the Dear Leader, 63, reportedly has a limited number of associates to rely on.

But such a possibility looks slim now as Kim has apparently changed his mind, according to sources in Seoul.

“(Chang) was predicted to make a comeback in the past because he was such a close confidant (of Kim Jong-il),’’ the Yonhap news agency quoted a source as saying. “But now almost all the people who, for example, have simply eaten naengmyon (or Korean cold noodles) together in the Yokryukwan restaurant (in Pyongyang) have been expelled to local areas. The likelihood of Chang’s comeback is near zero now.’’

Chang was formerly vice-director of the party’s exceptionally powerful bureau _ the Organization and Guidance Department. High-profile defector Hwang Jang-yop once described him as the “No. 2 man’’ in North Korea.

Now Ri Che-kang (phonetic), new vice-director of the potent department, is known to be in charge of removing Chang and his close allies from the political scene.

The intended purge of Chang, 60, is allegedly a result of his efforts to promote Kim Hyong-nam, an illegitimate son of Kim Il-sung, the founding father of North Korea, as a contender to Kim Jong-il.

Kim Hyong-nam, 33, was adopted at birth by a sibling of Chang, according to a country report on North Korea by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The expulsion process resembles one that took place in the 1970s when the Pyongyang regime underwent a power struggle during which “side branches’’ of Kim Il-sung were trimmed away.

At that time, the regime purged Kim Il-sung’s uncle Kim Young-ju as well as others, including the leader’s second wife Kim Song-ae (phonetic) and her children. In 1976, Kim Young-ju disappeared from the political scene and did not re-appear until 1993 when he returned to the Party Central Committee.

Chang is reportedly in a bad state of health now. Even if Kim Jong-il reinstates him, he is unlikely to return to the party. Sources in Seoul predicted that the most likely scenario is that Chang will be named an ambassador _ a job which cannot influence domestic politics.

Kim Jong-il has not yet decided who will succeed him, even though his own ascension to power was carefully prepared over more than 20 years.

There are three known rival candidates for the succession _ all Kim Jong-il’s sons, by two mothers, neither of whom he married.

The eldest, Kim Jong-nam, 34, was reportedly the favorite until 2001 when he was caught visiting a theme park in Japan on a false passport, embarrassing the Pyongyang regime.

Kim Jong-nam’s two rivals are his younger half-brothers _ Kim Jong-chol, 24, and Kim Jong-woon, 22. Kim Jong-il is said to favor Kim Jong-woon, as the more manly of the two, the country report said. Their mother, Ko Young-hee, a former dancer who became his consort, died of cancer in 2004.

Her death triggered numerous media reports predicting an imminent power struggle in the Pyongyang regime, which is described by the Western media as a “Communist dynasty.’’

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Posted in Central Miltary Committee, Organization and Guidance Department, Political economy, Worker's Party | 1 Comment »

The Dear Director

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2005

Korea Times
Andrei Lankov
8/2/2005

One of the few things known about Kim Jong-il in the West, from at least the 1980s, is that the North Korean dauphin is a movie fan, and that for a while he personally led the entire North Korean movie industry.

Indeed, movies titillated Kim Jong-il’s imagination when he was a student at the Kim Il-sung university in the early 1960s; he loved movies. Of course, his choice was not the boring North Korean films about exemplary steel workers and selfless military nurses who recited dreary monologues about their love for the party (not so for the Leader at that stage).

The young dauphin preferred Western movies, mostly imported from Europe or the U.S. via Moscow. Following the then Soviet approach, such ideologically suspicious movies were bought in very small quantities. They were not for public screening, but the private viewing of the top elite. It is well known that Stalin was a great movie fan.

Nothing like it has ever been heard about Kim Il-sung, but it seems that his eldest son spent long hours in a small viewing room of the Film Distribution Center, itself located on the second floor of an unremarkable apartment building in downtown Pyongyang.

This youthful passion for movies influenced his private life. The two major love affairs that Kim Jong-il had were with women from this theatrical-cinematographic milieu. But it also influenced his political career since the first job for the ‘rising son’ was to head the cinema production group in the Party Central Committee.

In a Communist party, the Central Committee is believed to be the center of everything, and the “ideological guidance” of the fine arts is one of its major tasks. In North Korea, following the Soviet prototype, this task was entrusted to the Agitation and Propaganda Department, which had a special arts section. Arts were seen as a part of propaganda, first and foremost. The cinema production group, headed by Kim Jong-il, belonged to this section.

Kim Jong-il assumed his leadership role in September 1967, when the cinema world was in turmoil. In September 1967, the North Korean Politburo, the party- state’s supreme council, held an urgent meeting on the premises of North Korea’s largest cinema studio. Movie industry leaders were subjected to sharp attacks because they allegedly condoned “anti-party activity” by producing a movie about Pak Kum-chol, a prominent statesman who had recently fallen from grace. Needless to say, this is the normal risk of being a movie producer or writer in a Stalinist society. You are required to worship heroes, but you never know if today’s hero will become tomorrow’s villain. The situation looked grim, praising the enemies of the people could not be taken lightly.

According to an apocryphal but perhaps true story, it was during the “studio” meeting of the Politburo that the then 25 year-old Kim Jong-il volunteered to take control of the cinema industry. Whatever his intentions, this decision saved many people in the industry from humiliation and death. Kim Jong-il staged large-scale self-criticism sessions, but more serious punishments were rare.

In fact, Kim Jong-il protected his beloved cinema world during the turbulent years of the “Kapsan purge,” which was probably the last large-scale purge of top leaders and their associates in North Korean history. After 1970, purges were largely isolated albeit frequent events, not large-scale campaigns as before.

Under Kim Jong-il’s guidance, the movie studios were refurbished. He arranged the best equipment to be imported from overseas. This sounds fine until one remembers that this meant the re-allocation of scarce hard currency reserves, which could be used for buying anything else, from medical supplies to new battle tanks. However, the crown prince loved cinema, and nobody dared question his demands. After all, new movie cameras are much cheaper than missile launchers.

Kim Jong-il’s years at the helm were marked by a serious improvement in the technical quality of North Korean cinema. The story lines remained as tedious as before, and perhaps even got worse: in general, the late 1960s was a period of increasing ideological repression in the North. But the same old boring stories of self-sacrificing workers, exemplary farm girls and, of course, selfless guerrillas were delivered with much better technical precision.

Guerrillas were particularly important since many major movies produced under Kim Jong-il’s guidance dealt with the anti-Japanese struggle of the 1930s. Sea of Blood, a guerrilla epic with a story line patterned after Gorky’s Mother, and Flower Girl were major examples of this trend. For Kim Jong-il this was important, since he reminded his father Kim Il-sung about the heroic days of anti-Japanese warfare, and by doing so he positioned himself as his father’s most trustworthy successor.

By the late 1960s, it became clear that a dynastic succession was in the offing, but there were few contenders who wanted to become heirs to the aging Great Leader. Kim Jong-il had the best chance from the very beginning, although he was not without rivals as well. But that is another story…

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Posted in Agitation and Propaganda Department, Central Committee, Film, Political economy | Comments Closed

Pyongyang’s Banking Beachhead in Europe

Thursday, February 13th, 2003

Far Eastern Economic Review
Bertil Lintner
2/13/2003 

One of the few things that Kim Kum Jin and Sun Hui Ri didn’t leave behind when they fled Slovakia in August last year was their collection of bank records. Their invoices came to millions of dollars, but the documents recovered by Slovak police don’t make clear where all the money went. Some answers could probably be found just up the Danube River from Bratislava. Since 1982, the North Koreans have had their own bank in Austria’s capital, Vienna. It’s called the Golden Star Bank–almost the same name as a North Korean company in Beijing that was used by Kim.

According to official Austrian bank documents seen by the REVIEW, the Golden Star Bank is 100% owned by the Korea Daesong Bank, a state enterprise headquartered in Pyongyang. Kim Dok Hong, a top North Korean official who fled to South Korea in 1997, says that both banks come under the jurisdiction of Bureau 39, a shadowy wing of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party controlled by North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. Western and Asian intelligence services believe it was set up in 1994 to generate hard currency for Kim’s impoverished nation.

For more than two decades, the Austrian police have kept a close eye on the Golden Star Bank, but there is no law that forbids the North Koreans from operating a nonretail financial institution in the country. Nevertheless, Austria’s police intelligence department stated in a 1997 report: “This bank [Golden Star] has been mentioned repeatedly in connection with everything from money laundering and distribution of fake currency notes to involvement in the illegal trade in radioactive material.”

But finding hard evidence of illegal activity is another matter and the bank continues trading in the Austrian capital. While documents left behind in Bratislava by Kim Kum Jin and Sun show dealings with respected banks such as the Bank of China and the National Bank of Egypt, there is no paperwork connecting them directly to the Golden Star Bank. But the Austrian police report’s assertion that “Vienna must be seen as North Korea’s centre for financial transactions in Europe” remains relevant today.

The former Portuguese enclave of Macau–where the North Koreans have had a discreet but solid presence since the mid-1970s–plays a similar role in East Asia, according to Western and Asian intelligence officials. The North Koreans do not have their own bank in the largely autonomous Chinese territory, but they operate through locally owned family banks, the officials believe.

In an October 2000 conference paper, Marcus Noland of the Washington-based Institute for International Economics asserted that money owed by South Korea’s Hyundai company to the North Korean government had gone “into the Macau bank account of ‘Bureau 39’.” The payments were for permission to operate tourist trips to Mt. Kumgang in the North. An official at Hyundai Asan, which organizes the tours, says only that royalties are paid to North Korea through Korea Exchange Bank’s branches in unspecified third countries.

The Congressional Research Service–which provides United States congressmen with background briefings–reported on March 5 last year that “the U.S. military command and the Central Intelligence Agency reportedly believe that North Korea is using for military purposes the large cash payments, over $400 million since 1998, that the Hyundai Corporation has to pay for the right to operate [the] tourist project.”

Noland, an expert on Korean affairs, asserted in his paper that this income was used for “regime maintenance,” or to strengthen the government and its armed forces. Bankers and Western security officials believe this is also the case with money earned from the operations in Europe and the Middle East.
The Macau Connection
The Former Portuguese Colony was a Terrorist Base for Pyongyang

Avenida de Sidonio Pais is not Macau’s busiest street. And the trading company that is located on the fifth floor in a nondescript concrete building doesn’t even have a sign outside. But this is where Zokwang Trading is located–and from where the North Koreans have conducted some of their more nefarious activities in East Asia. The company was set up shortly after the Carnation Revolution in Portugal in 1974, when the old fascist dictatorship was overthrown and the new, left-leaning leaders recognized North Korea.

But Zokwang, which ironically means “morning light” in Korean, has always been more than a trading company. This was the alleged planning base for the 1983 bombing in which North Korean agents killed 17 South Korean officials, including four cabinet ministers, who were visiting the Burmese capital, Rangoon. In 1987, another set of North Korean agents bombed a Korean Air jet, killing all 115 people on board. One of those agents, Kim Hyun Hee, now lives in Seoul and describes in her autobiography, The Tears of My Soul, how she was trained in Macau. There, she and other North Korean agents learnt Cantonese so that they would be able to pose as Macau or Hong Kong Chinese when sent on overseas missions. They were also trained to shop in supermarkets, use credit cards and visit discos–amenities that did not exist in their homeland.

In 1994, the head of Zokwang and four other North Koreans were arrested in Macau for depositing millions of dollars worth of counterfeit $100 bills. But nothing came of the investigation and in 1999, more counterfeit dollars were discovered in Macau. The North Koreans were also suspected of peddling drugs and guns through the then Portuguese enclave. Once a week, the North Korean national carrier Air Koryo flew from Bangkok to Pyongyang with a stopover in Macau. The flights, now monthly, carried few passengers–but plenty of cargo.

So Western and Japanese intelligence agencies were apprehensive when North Korea was allowed by the Chinese government to open a new consulate general in Hong Kong on February 16. Air Koryo had applied in April last year for permission to use Hong Kong’s new Chek Lap Kok airport instead. But the airport authorities turned the request down. Air Koryo’s old Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft were just too noisy.

But those who thought Hong Kong would become a new centre for North Korean crime have so far been proven wrong. Perhaps under Chinese pressure, the North Koreans in Hong Kong have become model diplomats: open, approachable and eager to forge links with the local business community. Hong Kong has also eclipsed Macau as the centre for North Korean businesses in East Asia, and the new style may serve as a harbinger for change. No one wants to see another terrorist state emerge in Asia.

Issue cover-dated October 25, 2001

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Posted in Arms shipment, Banking, Bureau 39, Counterfeiting, Daesong Group, Finance, Illicit activities, Zokwang Trading Company | Comments Closed

Kwangmyongsong No. 1 “satellite” compendium

Friday, July 31st, 1998

Kwangmyongsong-1-1998-8

Pictured above: A model of the satellite in the 3 Revolutionas exhibition in Pyongyang.

On 1998-8-31 the DPRK tested its first long-range rocket. As had been done in other countries before, the test was made to appear as an attempted satellite launch. Below are key articles from KCNA at the time and additional information. More information can be found at the Wikipedia page.

KCNA announced the story on 2013-9-7:

Rodong Sinmun on successful launch of “Kwangmyongsong No. 1”

Pyongyang, September 7 (KCNA) — The scientists and technicians of Korea succeeded in putting the first artificial satellite into orbit. This is a present of their loyalty to General Secretary Kim Jong Il. This also demonstrates the fixed faith of the Korean people to build a strong and prosperious country of Juche, rallied close around him. Rodong Sinmun today stresses this in a lengthy editorial article captioned “warm congratulations on successful launch of the first artificial satellite ‘Kwangmyongsong No. 1’.”

The daily says: The successful launch of the first artificial satellite “Kwangmyongsong No.1” in Korea demonstrated the inexhaustible potentials of Juche Korea. It is a significant event that set up a new milestone in the building of a strong and prosperous socialist country. It is an all-round crystal of the strength of the DPRK, independent in politics, self-sufficient in the economy and self-reliant in national defence, and the highest peak of Juche-based science and technology. The recent auspicious event is a solemn gunreport of the building of a strong and prosperous country. The launch, a historic event, gives the confidence in the final victory and optimism to the Korean people on an arduous socialist forced march. It is of weighty importance in exploring new areas of our science and technology. The launch makes it possible to lay solid foundations for the launch of practical satellites. It is thanks to the guidance of Kim Jong Il that a huge army of competent scientists and technicians and a reliable scientific research have been built and proud successes of science and technology have been gained. The recently-launched carrier rocket and artificial satellite have been developed by our wisdom, technology and local materials 100 percent. The recent launch proves that no doubt, our science and technology are on the level of those of advanced countries–it fully demonstrates the advantages of socialism over capitalism. We will go in advance of imperialism in science and technology and win victory of Korean socialism.

KCNA offered an update on 2013-9-8:

“Kwangmyongsong No. 1” revolves round earth

Pyongyang, September 8 (KCNA) — The first artificial satellite of the DPRK launched at Musudan-ri, Hwadae county, North Hamgyong Province, on August 31 is now revolving round the earth. The multi-stage carrier rocket and satellite launched by Korean scientists and technicians were developed with local strength, wisdom and technology 100 percent.

Today’s edition of Rodong Sinmun carries an interview with scientists and technicians involved in the satellite launch and a sketch map of the carrier rocket launching test. The first and second rocket stages are made up of liquid rocket engines and the third stage an engine with highly efficient solid fuel. The control mechanism of the rocket is a product of advanced science and technology, including computers.

The first stage was separated from the rocket 95 seconds after the launch and fell on the open waters of the East Sea of Korea 253 km off the launching station, that is 40 degrees 51 minutes north latitude 132 degrees 40 minutes east longitude. The second stage opened the capsule in 144 seconds, separated itself from the rocket in 266 seconds and fell on the open waters of the Pacific 1,646 km off from the launching station, that is 40 degrees 13 minutes north latitude 149 degrees 07 minutes east longitude. The third stage put the satellite into orbit 27 seconds after the separation of the second stage.

The purpose and mission of the rocket were accomplished at the first launch. This demonstrates the might of science and technology of Juche and proves the high level of the technology of development and manufacture of the carrier rocket. General Secretary Kim Jong Il sent thanks to the scientists, technicians and workers who contributed to the successful launch of the satellite.

KCNA also offered this interview with the scientists on 1998-9-8:

Scientists outline launch of artificial satellite

Pyongyang, September 8 (KCNA) — Rodong Sinmun today carries its reporter’s interview with scientists about the process of the development of an artificial satellite and its prospect together with a sketch map showing the satellite carrier rocket launching test.

Academician, Prof. and Dr. Kwon Tong Hwa, Kim Il Sung order winner, labour hero and deputy to the Supreme People’s Assembly, who was involved in the launch said that the DPRK has long since developed the science and technology of artificial satellites and laid its solid industrial foundation, not boasting of it. He explained the background of the launch of the satellite: Under the wise guidance of General Secretary Kim Jong Il, the DPRK has developed a multi-stage rocket capable of carrying an artificial satellite already in the 1980s and made remarkable successes in researches into satellites as well. When he was alive, the President Kim Il Sung said that it was high time for the DPRK to launch an artificial satellite. All preparations for the launch had been completed in Korea already at the beginning of the 1990s. As instructed by Kim Jong Il, the first artificial satellite was launched to significantly adorn the first session of the 10th Supreme People’s Assembly and the 50th anniversary of the founding of the DPRK. This was a historic event which made the Korean people and the world know about the might of the local industry and science and technology of satellites the DPRK has independently developed without boasting of it. Candidate academician, Prof. and Dr. Han Hae Chol, Kim Haeng Gyong and other scientists, who were involved in the launch of the artificial satellite “Kwangmyongsong No. 1,” referred to the purpose of the launch: First, it is to master the technology of putting a satellite correctly into orbit with a multi-stage carrier rocket. Second, it is to perfect the structural engineering design of a multi-stage carrier rocket and its control technology. Third, it is to study the circumstances of the space and verify if electronic devices correctly operate in the space. Fourth, it is to complete the observation system of the carrier rocket and satellite. For this purpose, necessary observation devices were installed at the carrier rocket and satellite. With the successful launch of the satellite, necessary tests were made in the space and a solid foundation was laid to launch a practical satellite. It also provided a turning-point for establishing satellite observation and telecommunications systems in the DPRK. The scientists chose the sky above Tsugaru strait between Hokkaido and Honshu, Japan, as the trajectory of the recent artificial satellite launch. The carrier rocket was equipped with a device with which to lead the rocket to a safe area and explode it in case the flying rocket is deviated from the expected trajectory. Through the recent success the scientists are convinced of the reliability of the carrier rocket before anything else. The success demonstrated the perfect efficiency of the multistage carrier rocket. A scientist Kim Haeng Gyong who had participated in the launch said the carrier rocket correctly flied along the theoretically expected trajectory and that all the apparatuses of the artificial satellite are working properly after it was put into orbit. Scientists said scientific foundations were laid for the immediate launch of practical satellites and the development and use of telecommunications satellites have been made possible. The artificial satellite moving along its own orbit sends them survey data, including temperature, pressure and conditions of power source, they said. The sketch map of the test launch of the carrier rocket of the artificial satellite shows where the carrier rocket was separated stage by stage and where the separated parts of the rocket dropped. It shows that the first stage was separated from the rocket 95 seconds after the launch, in the air 35.9 kilometres high and 19.5 kilometres off the launching station, that the second stage separated itself from the rocket in 266 seconds, in the air 204 kilometres high and 450.5 kilometres off the launching station and that the artificial satellite was put into orbit in 293 seconds, at the speed of 8,980 metres per second, in the air 239.2 kilometres high and 587.9 kilometres off the launching station. It also shows that the first stage separated from the rocket fell 253 kilometres off the launching station, that is 40 degrees 51 minutes north latitude 132 degrees 40 minutes east longitude and that the second stage fell 1,646 kilometres off the launching station, that is 40 degrees 13 minutes north latitude 149 degrees 07 minutes east longitude.

KCNA also reported on Kim Jong-il’s letter of thanks to the scientists on 1998-9-8:

Kim Jong Il sends message of thanks to scientists, technicians and workers

Pyongyang, September 8 (KCNA) — The great leader Kim Jong Il, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and Chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission, sent a message of thanks to scientists, technicians and workers who had contributed to the successful launch of the artificial satellite “Kwangmyongsong No.1”. In the message Kim Jong Il says it is a brilliant victory of the WPK’s policy of attaching importance to science and technology that they correctly put into orbit at one launch the artificial satellite which requires the latest know-how. It is also a proud fruition of the wise leadership of the WPK that has energetically guided the work of training technical personnel of the nation and developing the nation’s science and technology, he adds. The message says: The carrier rocket and artificial satellite successfully developed, manufactured and launched by our scientists, technicians and workers, clearly demonstrated the potentials of the independent national economy which our people have cemented with all efforts for scores of years. And they proved once again that self-reliance is the only way for our victorious progress. The successful launch of the satellite gives the Korean p0ople high pride and confidence in that it came amid grim trials caused by the imperialists’ hostile activities, the message says. The successful development and launch of the artificial satellite in the DPRK is a great contribution to preserving world peace and enriching the treasure-house of science and technology of humanity, the message says, adding that the scientific activities of the DPRK for peaceful use of the outer space enjoy sympathy and support from progressive people. It urges the scientists and technicians to bring about a new advance in the development of science and technology through devoted efforts, conscious of their great honor and dignity as scientists and technicians of Juche Korea. The scientists and technicians must uphold the socialist motherland with science and technology and creditably discharge their mission and duty in building a powerful state of Juche in Korea, the message emphasizes.

On September 12, KCNA published a response to the Japanese assertion that the DPRK was testing a long-range rocket:

Japanese politicians hit for utterances against international law and usage

Pyongyang, September 12 (KCNA) — The spokesman for the Korean Democratic Lawyers Association today released a statement denouncing the Japanese politicians for recently making utterances against international law and usage, wantonly violating the sovereignty and dignity of the DPRK over the DPRK’s launching of an artificial satellite. The statement says: In the wake of the DPRK’s launching of the first artificial satellite “Kwangmyongsong No.1” politicians of Japan persistently claimed that it was a “missile.” when the successful launching was made clear, they are taking issue with the DPRK, irrespective of international usage and common sense, saying that a missile or an artificial satellite are intolerable because they have a military danger. There can be large, small, developed and developing countries in the world. There is no reason why only a few particular countries can launch artificial satellites in an effort to use the space for peaceful purposes. Japanese politicians ignorant of this internationally-recognised common sense still slander the DPRK. The slander cannot be construed otherwise than an act of betraying their ignorance. Even after the news of the DPRK’s launching of the artificial satellite was reported, they are claiming that it is a “missile.” judging from this, their insistence is not a product of their ignorance of international usage and common sense, but they seek in this to attain a political aim. Japan began the development of artificial satellites from the 1960s. It has launched scores of artificial satellites up to this date from 1975. On September 7 this year it launched a rocket under the pretext of exploring an ozone layer. Worse still, a large number of mass destruction weapons of other countries are deployed in and around the territory of Japan. Japanese politicians are claiming that their own missiles, artificial satellites and mass destruction weapons of other countries have no danger, but our own artificial satellite poses threat to peace and security, and so they cannot tolerate it. Their claim is a brigandish sophism that cannot go down with anyone under the present international order the keynote of which is independence and equality. If they are interested in peace and security in northeast Asia, they must first repent of their stepped-up building of Japan into a military power and apologize to the DPRK for slandering it. If Japan continues acting rashly irrespective of international usage and its own lot, it will meet bitterer condemnation and curses from international community. The Korean democratic lawyers association scathingly condemns Japanese politicians for making utterances wantonly violating the sovereignty and dignity of the DPRK, as well as international law and usage, over the DPRK’s launching of artificial satellite, and presents their misbehaviour to the international community. Japan must be aware of its own lot and act with discretion.

On September 14, KCNA reported that the new satellite had completed 100 revolutions around the globe:

Artificial satellite “Kwangmyongsong No.1” makes 100 rounds of the earth

Pyongyang, September 14 (KCNA) — The artificial satellite “Kwangmyongsong no.1” which had been launched in Korea at 12:07 on August 31 made 100 rounds of the earth between 08:24 and 11:17 on September 13. In the 100th period the satellite passed the DPRK in the air 220 kilometres high via the sky above the northern part of Hawaii, Chile, Argentina and other South American countries, the Atlantic ocean, Namibia, Angola, Democratic Congo, Ethiopia, Pakistan and China. The first artificial satellite of the DPRK successfully made 100 rounds of the earth, demonstrating the potentials of the DPRK which is accelerating the development of the space, an area of ultra-modern science of humankind, in reliance upon national strength and advanced science and technology. The artificial satellite is expected to be seen with the naked eye when it is passing the DPRK in early October.

On September 19, KCNA published a list of supporters of the DPRK’s rocket test:

Fruit of wise guidance of Kim Jong Il

Pyongyang, September 19 (KCNA) — The successful launch of the first artificial satellite “Kwangmyongsong No. 1” in Korea caused a great sensation in the international community. The Minister of State for Mission in the Presidency of Equatorial Guinea said that he keenly felt again the wise guidance of General Secretary Kim Jong Il through the DPRK’s successful launch of the satellite which was made with its own technique. The advisor to the Indonesian President for the non-aligned movement said that Korea’s launch of the first satellite is the fruit of the wise guidance of General Secretary Kim Jong Il. The head of the scientific section of the International Scientific and Technical Information Centre of Russia said that Kim Jong Il has attached importance to science and techniques even under the difficulties and made sure that the satellite was successfully launched. The vice-chairman of the council of the union of communist parties-the Communist Party of the Soviet Union said that the satellite launch of the DPRK is an expression of Kim Jong Il’s boldness and it fully demonstrates Korea’s successes in economy, science and technique. The deputy speaker of State Duma of Russia had this to say: “Korea, not a big country, launched an artificial satellite with its own strength and technique. This is a great event beyond imagination.” The vice-Minister of Finance of Tanzania and the general director of Asian affairs of the secretariat for foreign liaison and international cooperation of Libya said that the successful launch of the satellite in Korea is a demonstration of its national defence power, economic potentials and science and techinque. The general secretary of the centre of the Cuban workers noted: “Korea’s successful launch of the satellite into orbit shows that it has military technique capable of annihilating enemies wherever they are on the earth.” The vice-President of the Parliament of Malaysia and the vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran said that Korea’s successful launch of a satellite is a pride of Asia. The chairman of “Working Russia” movement said that Korea’s launch of the first satellite, which was made with its own strength and technique 100 percent, is a great victory of socialism.

On September 27, the Central Military Commission held a banquet in honor of the scientists. I do not believe the scientists were invited. According to KCNA:

Banquet for those related to launch of satellite

Pyongyang, September 27 (KCNA) — The Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the National Defense Commission of the DPRK gave a grand banquet in Pyongyang on Saturday in honour of the scientists, technicians and workers who had contributed to successfully launching the first artificial satellite “Kwangmyongsong No. 1.” Jo Myong Rok, first vice-chairman of the National Defense Commission of the DPRK and director of the General Political Department of the Korean People’s Army, in a speech said that he, authorized by the respected Supreme Commander Kim Jong Il, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and Chairman of the National Defense Commission of the DPRK, extends warm congratulations to the entire scientists, technicians and workers who had successfully launched the first artificial satellite into orbit. The successful launching of the satellite by our own wisdom, technology, efforts and materials 100 percent is a signal event which demonstrated to the world the national power of Juche Korea and heralded a strong country, he said, and went on: The historic event to be recorded in the history of the nation gave great confidence and courage to the Korean people and officers and men of the People’s Army in their forced march to overcome difficulties for the final victory and sent the imperialists and reactionaries trying to stifle the DPRK with uneasiness and fear. With the launch of the first satellite Korea has ranked among the advanced countries in space development and is proud of its might in politics, military affairs and science and technology. The scientists, technicians and workers, bearing in mind the national pride and honour of having General Secretary Kim Jong Il at the head of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the revolution, should absolutely worship and uphold him in one mind in any adversity and defend the headquarters of the revolution headed by him at the cost of their lives. At the banquet scientists and technicians hardened their determination to lay firmer foundations of the independent national economy and make a new signal success in satellite development. The banquet participants enjoyed an art performance.

On September 28, KCNA explained the origins of the name for the “satellite”:

Kwangmyongsong

Pyongyang, September 28 (KCNA) — The first man-made satellite of Korea is now orbiting the globe. It is called “Kwangmyongsong No.1” in Korea. “Kwangmyongsong” means a lodestar, and it is symbolic of the greatness of General Secretary Kim Jong Il. In the 1940s, anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters of Korea highly praised the birth of Kim Jong Il, saying that a lodestar rose on Mt. Paektu to lead Korea. “Oh Korea, a lodestar was born on Mt. Paektu”, “Koreans, a lodestar that will carry forward the idea of commander Kim Il Sung has risen above Mt. Paektu”, “Future of Korea with a lodestar above Mt. Paektu is bright” and “the lodestar above Mt. Paektu shines all over Korea”–these slogans written by the fighters on trees are still preserved. The President Kim Il Sung personally authored an “Ode to the lodestar” on the occasion of the 50th birthday of Kim Jong Il in February Juche 81 (1992). The President in the ode praised Kim Jong Il as the lodestar of mankind respected by all people for his exploits for the fatherland and mankind. The naming of the first satellite as “Kwangmyongsong No. 1” reflects deep reverence of the Korean people for Kim Jong Il, who is glorifying the socialism of Korea.

On September 29, KCNA was able to dig up some more foreign supporters:

DPRK’s launch of artificial satellite lauded

Pyongyang, September 29 (KCNA) — Political figures of different countries in Asia highly estimated the successful launch of “Kwangmyongsong No. 1,” the first artificial satellite of the DPRK. A deputy Prime Minister of Laos, the Foreign Minister of Indonesia, the Minister of Finance of Pakistan and other political figures of different countries said that the satellite launch in the DPRK is a “miraculous event” which gives great pride, conviction and encouragement to the third world countries, the Asian people in particular. The DPRK successfully launched the satellite, an all-embracing unit of the latest techniques, with its own technology and efforts, they noted. This is unthinkable apart from the wise leadership of General Secretary Kim Jong Il and it is a great fruition of the line of independence, self-sustenance and self-reliance in defence. A deputy speaker of the Parliament of Malaysia, an executive secretary of the parliamentary group of the Asean and officials of foreign ministries of Iran and Viet Nam said that the DPRK launched the satellite at one try, striking the world with admiration, when Asian countries are in the grip of economic crisis. They praised Kim Jong Il as the sun and the leader who will lead the 21st century.

On October 1, KCNA reported that the satellite could be seen with the naked eye:

Satellite can be seen by naked eye

Pyongyang, October 1 (KCNA) — “Kwangmyongsong No. 1,” the artificial earth satellite launched by the DPRK at 12:07 August 31, can be seen by the naked eye early this month. A competent organ said that the satellite moving from the west to the cast can be seen in different parts of Korea between 04:50 and 05:30 (local time) on Oct. 3 and 4.

On December 1, Scientists were given awards:

State commendations awarded

Pyongyang, December 1 (KCNA) — A ceremony for awarding state commendations, gifts and state academic degrees and titles to scientists, technicians, workers and officials who contributed to successfully launching “Kwangmyongsong No. 1”, the first artificial satellite in Korea, took place at the April 25 House of Culture in Pyongyang Monday. Attending the ceremony were President of the presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK Kim Yong Nam and officials concerned. 8 people were awarded the title of labour hero of the DPRK, two persons the Kim Il Sung Order and five people the Kim Il Sung Youth Honour Prize while other scientists, technicians and workers received titles of people’s and merited scientist, the title of merited machine builder, orders and medals. 24 people were presented with watches bearing the august name of the President Kim Il Sung and 24 others were awarded citations of Kim Jong Il, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea. Gifts sent by General Secretary Kim Jong Il were handed to the participants. And titles and degrees of candidate academician, professor, doctor, associate professor and master were awarded to 97 scientists. Speakers at the ceremony evinced the determination to actively contribute to registering eye-catching successes in developing satellites by creditably preparing themselves to be competent scientists with uptodate scientific and technological knowledge.

On December 8, KCNA reported on the satellite’s first 100 days:

“Kwangmyongsong No. 1” moves round earth 770 times

Pyongyang, December 8 (KCNA) — 100 days have passed since Korea’s first artificial satellite “Kwangmyongsong No. 1” blasted off into the space. During the days, the satellite has made some 770 rounds of the earth and moved along its normal orbit on set time each day. The satellite technicians have paid particular attention to observing its orbiting since it blasted off. At around 15 hours of local time on August 31 this year the satellite made its first round of the earth, passing through the sky above the south sea of Korea. At 10:54 on September 2 it made 15 rounds of the earth, passing through the sky above the central part of Korea. At the dawn of October 3 and 4 it went to east from west above Korea. Scientists at the satellite observatory say that through the 100-day observation they could be convinced of the scientific accuracy of the satellite which was launched by the DPRK’s technology and efforts 100 percent.

“Kwangmyongsong No. 1” demonstrates might of Korea

Pyongyang, December 9 (KCNA) — 100 days have passed since the DPRK’s first artificial satellite “Kwangmyongsong No. 1” was placed into orbit. During the period, the satellite has made over 770 orbits of the earth demonstrating the might of the country. “Kwangmyongsong No. 1,” which has a special position in the world’s history of the development of artificial satellites, shows that the DPRK has reached ultra-modern technological level in the domain of the space development. The qualitative level of all devices, elements and materials of the satellite as well as the already-developed multi-stage carrier rocket are very high. Space experts of the world highly estimate the DPRK for successfully solving difficult scientific and technical problems such as development of super heat-resisting material, control of satellite’s position and peculiar stage separating method. The launching site built by Korean scientists and technicians themselves attracts attention from the world because it costs a large amount of fund. The observation of the satellite is being made on a scientific basis. It is helpful toward accelerating the space study for peaceful purposes. Technical problems of manufacturing and controling the multi-stage carrier rocket and separating its engines have already been solved satisfactorily. And complex and difficult technical problems of placing a satellite into orbit and issues of making communications with the satellite, accurately operating electronic devices in the space and establishing a perfect system of observing the satellite in the earth have been solved. Some time ago, scientists, technicians, workers and officials who contributed to the launch of the satellite were awarded state commendations, gifts and state academic degrees and titles.

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