NK weekly-domestic news

Summary of domestic news in North Korea this week

SEOUL, April 21 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of domestic news in North Korea this week.

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(3rd LD) N. Korea says its status as nuclear weapons state 'final, irreversible'

SEOUL -- North Korea's foreign minister said Friday that the United States and the West have no right to argue about its status as a nuclear weapons power, slamming a recent joint statement by the Group of Seven (G-7) diplomats as interference in internal affairs.

In a statement, Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui took issue with the G-7 Foreign Ministers that condemned the North's unlawful ballistic missile launches and said Pyongyang "cannot and will never" have the status of a nuclear weapons state under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

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(2nd LD) N. Korea's Kim orders launch of military reconnaissance satellite as planned

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Pyongyang has completed building its first military spy satellite and ordered final preparations to launch the satellite as planned, the North's state media reported Wednesday, in a move that is expected to further heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Kim made the remarks during an on-site inspection to the North's space development agency a day earlier, as Pyongyang has vowed to complete preparations of the launch of a military spy satellite by the end of this month, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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In letter to N. Korea's Kim, China's Xi voices willingness for strong bilateral ties

SEOUL -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, expressing his willingness to strengthen strategic communication with North Korea, Pyongyang's state media reported Tuesday.

Xi expressed his "heartfelt" thanks to the North's leader in a reply sent on April 12 to Kim's earlier message congratulating Xi's election as the Chinese president for a third term, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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N. Korea says strategic weapon development means of 'self-defense,' accuses UNSC of domestic interference

SEOUL -- North Korea said Monday its strategic weapon development was aimed at strengthening its self-defense against threats from Washington while accusing moves by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) against Pyongyang as domestic interference.

In a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, Ri Pyong-chol, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party, said the North's advanced strategic weapons development is a "legitimate self-defense measure" aimed at protecting Pyongyang from military threats posed by the U.S.

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(LEAD) N. Korean leader celebrates completion of building more new homes in Pyongyang

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has attended a ceremony to mark the completion of building another 10,000 units of homes in Pyongyang, state media said Monday, describing the project to supply more homes as one of the top policy priorities.

Kim attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for completing the first stage of the housing project in the Hwasong district of the capital on Sunday night, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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