Flower baskets were sent to the statues of President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Kim Jong Il on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang by families of Ryang Song Ryong, Pak Kil Song and Kim Chol, China-resident Koreans related to the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle, the family of Kim Sun Ok related to the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle and families of Zhou Baozhong, Feng Zhongyun, Chai Shiying, Chen Lei, Jie Qing and Hu Zhenyi, Chinese related to the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle, on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the demise of the Chairman.

The flower baskets were laid at the statues of the President and the Chairman on December 15.

On the same day, a flower basket in the name of Han Qishou, general manager of the Chinese Hong Kong Xiangtongjieda International Trade Co. Ltd., was placed at the statues. 

The praiseworthy entities of the implementation of the programme for the rural revolution in the new era have sprung up at the Togam Farm of the Kaesong Municipal Rural Economy Committee and the Taedoksan Farm in Jangphung County.

The modern houses of styles peculiar to the countryside are an epitome of Korean-style rural civilization in which the people’s dreams and ideals come true.

There were ceremonies for moving into new houses at those farms on December 15.

The Kyongam Tile Factory has been built in North Hwanghae Province.

The construction of the factory with equipment necessary for the production of various tiles and sanitary ceramic ware has laid another material and technical foundation for pushing ahead with regional and rural construction as required by the policies of the Workers’ Party of Korea.

Its inauguration ceremony took place on the spot on December 15.

DPRK weightlifter Kim Yong Ju was placed third in jerk and total of the women's 87kg category at the 2024 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships to win two bronze medals. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his country should develop AI technology by itself to have the capability to decide its future and destiny as he addressed an international conference on AI on December 11.

The technology ushers in a revolution in engineering fields and design, he said, stating that it heralds qualitatively different possibilities for robotics and the manufacture of ground, underwater and air unmanned technical equipment.

Noting that it is very important for domestic companies to introduce all these new technologies and successes into work and keep pace with the times, he said that the technology should be the most important resource in attaining national development goals to contribute to the strengthening of the national defence capabilities, the qualitative development of the economic and social fields and state administration and the growth of new technologies.

A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry repudiated the sanctions moves of the US in a regular press conference on December 11.

As regards the fact that the US Department of Commerce recently put two Chinese businesses on the sanctions list on a plea of “human rights violation”, he decried it as an undisguised act to exert pressure on the cutting-edge sci-tech businesses of his country.

He urged the US to resolve its own human rights issues first instead of interfering in the internal affairs of other countries across the world and jeopardizing their interests by politicizing and using as a weapon human rights issues.

Memorial events took place in different countries on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the demise of Chairman Kim Jong Il.

They included memorial meetings, seminars, lectures, round-table talks, book and photo exhibitions and film shows in Myanmar, Iran, Kuwait, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic and Tanzania from November 21 to December 8.

Present at the events were personages of political and social circles and other people in those countries.

The DPRK embassy in Moscow hosted a reception on December 12 on the occasion of the ratification of the Treaty on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation.

Present there at invitation were Alexandr Kozlov, minister of Natural Resources and Ecology who doubles as chairman of the Russian side to the DPRK-Russia Inter-governmental Committee for Cooperation in Trade, Economy, Science and Technology, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Mikhail Galujin, Vice-Minister of Defence Alexandr Fomin and other personages of the parliament, government, organizations and institutions, including the  Federation Council, the State Duma, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Interior.

Ambassador Sin Hong Chol and staff members of the DPRK embassy in Moscow were on hand.

New villages have appeared in Thaehung-ri and Unha-ri of Yangdok County, South Phyongan Province, showing the development of the countryside in a visual way while preserving the regional features.

A ceremony for moving into new houses took place on the spot on December 13. Present there were Kim Man Jo, secretary of the South Phyongan Provincial Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, officials of the Party and power organs and builders in Yangdok County and agricultural workers.

Ro In Gwon, vice-chairman of the South Phyongan Provincial People's Committee, addressed the ceremony and the licences for the use of new houses were handed over.