Summary of domestic news in North Korea this week

SEOUL, April 18 (Yonhap) — The following is a summary of domestic news in North Korea this week.

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N. Korea accuses Israel of seeking to absorb Gaza territory

SEOUL — North Korea on Thursday criticized Israel’s renewed strikes on the Gaza Strip, accusing it of explicitly seeking to seize Palestinian territories.

The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency issued the criticism in a commentary after Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza in mid-March, following the failure to extend a ceasefire with Hamas, which leads militant groups in the Gaza Strip.

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N. Korea criticizes S. Korea-U.S. air drills

SEOUL — North Korea’s defense ministry has accused South Korea and the United States of raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula with their joint military drills, warning the North would deter any aggressive attempt by the allies.

The North’s defense ministry issued the warning in a statement dated Wednesday, a day after South Korea and the U.S. conducted joint air drills involving U.S. B-1B bombers over the peninsula in a show of force against North Korean military threats.

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(LEAD) N. Korea’s Kim marks completion of new apartments in Pyongyang’s new town on founder’s birthday

SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended a ceremony marking the completion of 10,000 new housing units in a newly developed town in Pyongyang on the birth anniversary of his grandfather and national founder Kim Il-sung, the North’s state media reported Wednesday.

Kim attended the completion ceremony for the third-stage housing section of the newly developed Hwasong area in the capital Tuesday, the day the country celebrated the 113th birth anniversary of its founder, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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N. Korea’s Kim skips family mausoleum visit on founder’s birthday for 3rd year in row

SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to have skipped a visit to the family mausoleum on the birth anniversary of his grandfather and national founder Kim Il-sung as North Korean media on Wednesday reported only on a visit by other key officials.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Premier Park Thae-song; Choe Ryong-hae, chairman of the North’s parliamentary standing committee; and other high-ranking cadres visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun the previous day, when the country marked the founder’s 113th birth anniversary.

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(LEAD) N. Korea urges enduring loyalty to state leader on his grandfather’s birthday

SEOUL — North Korea recalled the revolutionary feats of late national founder Kim Il-sung on his birth anniversary Tuesday, stressing enduring loyalty to his grandson and current state leader Kim Jong-un.

The Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s ruling party newspaper, carried the message in an editorial on the day the country marked the 113th anniversary of the founder’s birth.

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N. Korean leader sends educational aid to pro-Pyongyang ethnic Koreans in Japan

SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent an educational aid fund and stipends to an association of pro-Pyongyang residents in Japan to mark the upcoming 113th birthday of late founder Kim Il-sung, the North’s state media reported Monday.

Kim sent 287 million yen (US$1.99 million) in such funds to the General Association of Korean residents in Japan for “democratic national education of Korean children in Japan,” according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
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