Summary of domestic news in North Korea this week

NK weekly-domestic news

Summary of domestic news in North Korea this week

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

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N. Korea stops using 'juche' calendar in effort to reinforce Kim's leadership

SEOUL -- North Korea has ceased using its "juche," or self-reliance, calendar -- a system of year numbering symbolizing its late founder Kim Il-sung -- in what appears to be the latest effort to reinforce Kim Jong-un's position as the nation's sole leader.

Under this calendar, Kim Il-sung's birth year, 1912, is considered Juche 1. The calendar was officially adopted in 1997, three years after he died of heart failure. North Korea has used the juche calendar, along with the Gregorian calendar.

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(3rd LD) N.K. constitution 'clearly' defines S. Korea as 'hostile' state: KCNA

SEOUL -- North Korea said Thursday its constitution clearly defines South Korea as a "hostile state," highly suggesting that Pyongyang has amended its constitution in line with leader Kim Jong-un's order to codify the South as an enemy, not a partner for reconciliation and unification.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) made the report while reporting on the North's blowing up earlier this week of roads and railways connected to South Korea that were once considered key symbols of inter-Korean reconciliation.

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(LEAD) N.K. leader holds security meeting to discuss S. Korea's alleged drone flights over Pyongyang

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has held a meeting with top security officials to discuss what Pyongyang claims was South Korea's infiltration of drones and military action plans to respond to it, state media reported Tuesday.

At the meeting held Monday, Kim received reports about North Korea's plan to deal with the "enemy's serious provocation," including the military's counteraction plan and the situation related to the North's intelligence operations, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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Pyongyang slams U.N. special rapporteur's report on N. Korea's human rights

SEOUL -- North Korea on Tuesday denounced Elizabeth Salmon, the U.N. special rapporteur for North Korean human rights, for submitting a report on North Korea's human rights abuses to the U.N. General Assembly, calling her a "puppet and top-class servant" of the United States.

In the report, Salmon said North Korea continues to further tighten its control over the population, restricting the right to freedom of movement after it imposed COVID-19 preventive measures in early 2020. It also took issue with North Korea's enactment of several laws that included death penalty provisions restricting human rights, including the right to freedom of expression.

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(LEAD) N. Korea says it ordered front-line artillery units to fully prepare to open fire

SEOUL -- North Korea's military has ordered artillery units along the border with South Korea to be fully ready to open fire, state media has reported, after the North warned of a "horrible disaster" over the alleged flight of drones over its capital.

North Korea's defense ministry issued the statement Sunday night, days after the recalcitrant regime claimed South Korea had sent unmanned drones carrying anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang three times this month.

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N. Korea slams U.S. envoy's remarks critical of N. Korean human rights situation

SEOUL -- North Korea on Monday denounced the U.S. human rights envoy for stressing that an inflow of outside information to North Korea is a key element of Washington's policy toward the North, claiming the U.S. aims to bring down the North's system.

U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues Julie Turner and Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice Beth Van Schaack visited South Korea last week and met with key government officials to discuss ways to improve North Korea's human rights situation.

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