Summary of domestic news in North Korea this week

NK weekly-domestic news

Summary of domestic news in North Korea this week

SEOUL, Aug. 16 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of domestic news in North Korea this week.

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N. Korean leader exchanges message with Putin on 79th anniv. of Korea's liberation from Japan's colonial rule

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has exchanged a message with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the occasion of the 79th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule and vowed to bolster ties with Moscow, state media reported Friday.

Putin extended a message to Kim earlier this week to offer congratulations on the Aug. 15 anniversary, and Kim sent a reply Thursday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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N. Korea's Kim vows to transform backward regions following downpours in border areas

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has pledged to transform backward regions, as the recent downpours in the country's northwestern border areas left many flood victims displaced and caused damage, state media reported Friday.

Kim made the remark Thursday during his visit to lodging quarters in Pyongyang prepared for the victims from flood-hit areas in North Phyongan, Jagang and Ryanggang provinces, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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Int'l tourism to N. Korea's Samjiyon to resume in Dec.: tour agency

SEOUL -- International tourism to Samjiyon and likely the rest of North Korea will resume in December after a four-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a Beijing-based tour agency said Wednesday.

Koryo Tours, which specializes in North Korea tours, said on its website it received confirmation of the plan from its "local partner."

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N. Korea slams Kishida's call for nuclear-free world

SEOUL -- North Korea on Wednesday criticized Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's recent speech advocating for a world without nuclear weapons, accusing Japan of pretending to be a victim of nuclear arms.

During a memorial ceremony on Aug. 6 to mark the anniversary of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima, Kishida emphasized Japan's commitment to the "three non-nuclear principles" of not possessing, producing or permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons.

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(LEAD) Russia sends hundreds of goats to N. Korea amid deepening bilateral ties

SEOUL -- Russia's agriculture safety watchdog has approved the shipment of 447 goats to North Korea after reviewing related veterinary and sanitary conditions, according to its website, amid deepening cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

After veterinary inspection, 432 female and 15 male goats were sent to a North Korean trading company in the first batch of exports of live animals to the North, according to a statement posted on the website of Russia's Rosselkhoznadzor on Friday.

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N. Korea slams top U.S. officials' op-ed on Biden's diplomat feats

SEOUL -- North Korea on Tuesday denounced top U.S. officials' joint opinion piece that touted "unprecedented" trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan as feats of U.S. President Joe Biden's Indo-Pacific diplomacy.

In the piece published in The Washington Post last Monday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan highlighted "tremendous results" of Biden's policy strategy.

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Sanctioned N. Korean official handling missile programs attends arms exhibition in Moscow: report

SEOUL -- A key North Korean official in charge of the country's ballistic missile programs has attended an arms exhibition in Moscow, a news report showed Tuesday, amid deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia.

Kim Jong-sik, the first vice department director of the ruling Workers' Party, was seen attending the opening ceremony of Army 2024, an international military-technical forum, on Monday (local time), Radio Free Asia, a U.S. media outlet, reported, citing Russian news media.

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N. Korean leader seen with new Mercedes-Benz SUV in defiance of sanctions

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to be using a new model of a Mercedes-Benz SUV in a move snubbing international sanctions banning North Korea's imports of luxury items.

Photos carried by the Korean Central News Agency on Saturday showed a black Mercedes-Benz SUV on a special train that Kim used to visit flood-hit areas of Uiju County in the northwestern province of North Phyongan last week.

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