Premier Pak Thae Song, who is also member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, inspected different sectors of North and South Hamgyong provinces.

During his inspection of the Ryongsong Machine Complex, he pointed to the need for its officials, technicians and workers to perfectly complete the renovation project for this year with a stronger sense of responsibility and redoubled efforts and to steadily increase its scientific and technological strength so as to increase the actual output in material processing and ensure the quality of products in the production of custom-built equipment.

At the Hungnam Fertilizer Complex and the February 8 Vinalon Complex, he referred to the need to take thorough measures to supply raw materials and fuel in order to normalize the production of fertilizer and basic chemical products, step up the construction of a slow-acting fertilizer production base and further intensify the research into the application of melamine resin, which takes an important part in the development of the chemical industry, so as to make a substantial contribution to agricultural production and the improvement of the people's living standards.

Learning about the progress in the first-stage construction project of the Tanchon Power Station, he called for speeding up the full preparation for its inauguration, including the trial operation of generating equipment, and paying close attention to providing the builders with good working and living conditions.

At the Sangnong Mine, he referred to the need to give definite precedence to capital tunnelling and reinforce the transport system so as to mine a larger quantity of ore and further perfect the smelting process. At the Hamhung Wheat Processing Factory, he called for increasing the wheat processing capacity to supply quality wheat flour to regional-industry factories.

Going round the refractory workshop and other places of the Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex, he stressed the need to boost furnace performance by taking technical measures for decisively improving the quality of fireproof materials and unconditionally attain the goal of iron and steel production set forth by the Party by accelerating the operation rate of equipment.

With a new era in which the countryside changes for the better, regional products are now as popular as those of centrally-run factories.

This is evidenced by the 2025 Pyongyang Underground Store Spring Commodity Show held some time ago.

On display there were more than 800 000 pieces of products in over 1 600 kinds produced by different units across the country.

Conspicuous were products made by effectively using the local raw material resources.

The booth of North Hamgyong Province was crowded with people.

The ceramic products, including utensils and flower pots, produced by the Kyongsong Ceramic Factory were in great demand as they were refined in shape and colour, diverse in kind and of good quality.

The appearance of Pyongyang is changing for the better every year.

The third-stage blocks of flats have been completed in the Hwasong area after the completion of the first- and second-stage ones in the area.

Hwasong Street, built through the first-stage project of 10 000 flats in the Hwasong area, is regularly divided into sections and vertical and horizontal buildings are distributed rationally in it to ensure the density of the buildings and good harmony of the whole sections. And though the architectural groups are distributed in a way of fanning out, vertical buildings are concentrated at the entrance to the street and the height of buildings is increased or reduced in the direction of the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun to provide the whole street with artistic reciprocity, compatibility and connectivity like an artwork.

The Rimhung Street, built through the second-stage project of 10 000 flats in the area, is characterized by dense distribution of modern high-rise apartment houses and skyscrapers for 10 000 flats in an area nearly half as small as the first-stage area. And repetition was avoided so as to make the apartment blocks clearly distinct from the first-stage ones in appearance. Besides, the combination of brownish colours with such light colours as white and grey highlights the clear contrast of colour in order to make the buildings look imposing and dignified.

The construction of the third-stage 10 000 flats in the Hwasong area is characterized by the fact that the modern high-rise apartment houses and skyscrapers are packed in better order by employing the site-saving city formation method as in the second-stage project.

Symbolic buildings and high-rise apartment houses and skyscrapers are concentrated at the crossroads of the main road, the height of buildings is increased or reduced in the direction of its vicinity and roads are designed to be straight for traffic convenience so as to make all sections organically linked.

The Japanese imperialists who occupied Korea by force of arms in the last century were hell-bent on plundering human resources.

After starting the Sino-Japanese War in 1937, they tried to realize their ambition for aggression at the cost of the blood and sweat of the Koreans by mobilizing the manpower resources of Korea for the execution of war through the requisition of all of its labour resources including “conscription”.

Accordingly, they promulgated the “special ordinance on Korean volunteers of the army” in February 1938, enforced it from April that year, enacted the “regulations governing volunteers training centre” with a six-month-long course and set up “volunteers training centres” extensively.

They also cooked up the “law on national mobilization” in April 1938 and the “national personal service drafting law” in October 1939 to take away Korean young and middle-aged men to the sites of backbreaking labour of death. At the munitions factories, coal and other mines and construction sites of military installations, the Koreans were forced into slave labour usually for over 16 hours a day.

The Japanese imperialists also forced all the able-bodied Koreans to do hard labour for the execution of the war of aggression under the signboard of the “national service corps” and “labour service”.

In May 1938 Japan issued an order to organize “national service corps” for the purpose of forcibly drafting Koreans into coal and other mines, railways, roads, harbours, timber felling places, the construction sites of airports and elsewhere.

Seven European countries including Slovenia, Norway, Iceland and Ireland issued a joint statement on May 16 in denunciation of Israel which has created a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

Saying that over 50 000 people were killed in Gaza, the statement warned that a larger number of people may face starvation in a few days or in a few weeks.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed the stand never to give in to the US threat in his speech delivered in a recent celebration event.

During his recent tour of the Middle East, the American ruler said that the US would not allow Iran’s possession of nuclear weapons, but put the strongest pressure on it. As regards this, Pezeshkian stated that Iran will not give up its legal rights.

He disclosed that the US authorities are stigmatizing the Islamic Republic as a root cause of instability since the country takes an independent stand without succumbing to their blackmail tactics.

He emphasized that the US will be unable to force the Iranian people into giving up their legal rights and that Iran will defend the achievements it has made in military, educational, scientific and nuclear fields.  

A bumper kelp harvest is seen at the Sinpho City Offshore Farm, which was wonderfully built as a model of offshore farming in the new era under the great benevolence of the Workers' Party of Korea.

Thanks to the devoted efforts of the officials and employees of the farm who have directed efforts to cultivating and tending kelp by dint of science and technology, plenty of kelp has been harvested for the first time since its inauguration.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un, who saw to it that a model of offshore aquaculture was created under the direct guidance of the WPK Central Committee, personally attended the inaugural ceremony of the Sinpho City Offshore Farm and set forth the important task to pep up the operation of the farm and increase its profits and effectiveness to the maximum.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un sent birthday spreads to Ko Sun Hwa, a woman centenarian living in neighbourhood unit No. 9 of Jangsan-dong, Sosong District, and to Yang I Sik, a woman centenarian living in neighbourhood unit No. 52 of Songyo-dong No. 2 in Songyo District, Pyongyang, on their 100th birthdays.

Officials of the districts and residents of the neighbourhood units visited the centenarians to congratulate them.

The centenarians and their families and relatives were deeply moved and extended their thanks to Kim Jong Un.

Bees are closely related to our life.

The benefits derived from them are not confined to honey which they make and which is good for human health.

At present, one third of agricultural products on earth are produced through pollination by such insects as bees. It is said that bees bring global agricultural producers 500 billion euros of economic profits.