Summary of domestic news in North Korea this week

NK weekly-domestic news

Summary of domestic news in North Korea this week

SEOUL, March 13 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of domestic news in North Korea this week.

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N. Korea's Kim attends concert marking Int'l Women's Day with wife, daughter

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended a concert marking International Women's Day with his wife and daughter Ju-ae, and hailed women's role in national development, state media said Monday.

Kim attended the performance at Pyongyang Indoor Stadium the previous day with his wife, Ri Sol-ju, and his teenage daughter, while female party and government officials, workers and members of foreign missions were also present, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

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N. Korea's Kim reaffirms relations with China in letter with Xi Jinping: KCNA

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reaffirmed his country's unwavering stance to advance ties with China in reply to a letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping, the North's state media said Tuesday.

Kim sent the letter to Xi the previous day in response to a message congratulating him on his reelection as general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea at a party congress last month, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

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N. Korea to hold congress of largest youth organization next month

SEOUL, March 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will hold a congress of the country's largest youth organization next month as a follow-up to a recent party congress in a bid to spur the implementation of party decisions, state media said Tuesday.

The Socialist Patriotic Youth League, the country's largest youth organization, decided at a meeting the previous day to convene a congress in late April in Pyongyang, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

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N. Korean leader's sister warns of 'terrible consequences' amid S. Korea-U.S. military drills

SEOUL -- The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday condemned the ongoing joint military drills between South Korea and the United States, warning of "unimaginably terrible consequences."

Kim Yo-jong, a department director at the ruling party, issued the warning in a press statement a day after Seoul and Washington kicked off their annual springtime military exercise, the Freedom Shield, for a 11-day run.

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N. Korea rallies voters ahead of next week's parliamentary elections

SEOUL -- North Korea on Tuesday urged voter participation ahead of next week's parliamentary elections, the first such polls in seven years, calling them an "important event" to strengthen the national social system.

The Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's most widely read newspaper, described parliamentary elections set for Sunday as an "important starting point" in implementing the new goals adopted at last month's ninth congress of the Workers' Party of Korea.

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N. Korea's Kim oversees another cruise missile test from destroyer amid Seoul-Washington military drills

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has overseen another test-firing of strategic cruise missiles from the Choe Hyon destroyer, state media reported Wednesday, as South Korea and the United States have kicked off their annual springtime military drills.

The North's leader observed the test via video Tuesday, stressing that it is important to maintain and expand a "powerful and reliable nuclear war deterrent," according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Photos published by state media showed Kim's daughter Ju-ae overseeing the test.

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N. Korea supports Iran's choice of new supreme leader amid raging war in Middle East

SEOUL -- North Korea said Wednesday it respects the Iranian people's election of their new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who was named earlier this week to succeed his father, who was killed during U.S.-Israeli attacks on Tehran.

A spokesperson at the North's foreign ministry made the remarks after Khamenei, a son of late former leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was named the country's new supreme leader by the Assembly of Experts on Sunday.

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N. Korea speeds up preparations for next week's parliamentary elections

SEOUL -- North Korea has been speeding up its preparations for next week's parliamentary elections by setting up election committees at various levels and reviewing qualifications of candidates for deputies to the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), according to state media Wednesday.

North Korea will elect deputies to the 15th SPA on Sunday as a follow-up step to last month's key party congress. North Korea typically holds parliamentary elections every five years, but the upcoming vote will mark the first since 2019.

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N. Korea's Kim, daughter test pistols together at munitions factory

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected a factory for light, portable munitions, where he and his teenage daughter tested pistols together, according to state media Thursday.

Kim oversaw arms production at a "major munitions factory" under the second economy commission the previous day, where production began based on a new pistol design approved at a meeting of the party's central military commission last month, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

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N. Korea set to elect new leadership at largest women's organization

SEOUL -- North Korea will hold a congress of the country's largest women's organization to elect new leadership, as it steps up the implementation of key decisions adopted at last month's ruling party congress, according to state media Thursday.

The Socialist Women's Union discussed issues for holding its eighth congress during a plenary meeting the previous day, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, signaling the formation of new leadership at the organization.

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N. Korea picks candidates for deputies to rubber-stamp parliament ahead of elections

SEOUL -- North Korea has completed the selection of candidates for deputies to a new term of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) ahead of its rubber-stamp parliamentary elections, state media reported Friday.

North Korea announced a list of candidates for the 15th SPA deputies as the country is set to hold the parliamentary elections Sunday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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N. Korea slams Japan's plan to deploy long-range missiles

SEOUL -- North Korea on Friday denounced Japan for its plan to deploy long-range anti-ship missiles in its southwestern region this month, calling the move Tokyo's plot to revive its militaristic past.

The North's accusation came as Japan announced earlier this week that the upgraded Type-12 surface-to-ship missiles will be deployed at Camp Kengun in Kumamoto Prefecture on March 31.

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Passenger train linking N. Korea, China arrives in Beijing for 1st time in 6 years

SEOUL/BEIJING -- A passenger train linking the capitals of North Korea and China arrived in Beijing on Friday after the two nations resumed such train service for the first time in six years.

The train, which departed Pyongyang at 10:26 a.m. the previous day, arrived at a train station in Beijing at 8:40 a.m.

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