Summary of domestic news in North Korea this week

SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of domestic news in North Korea this week.

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N. Korea to hold major parliamentary session this weekend after missile volley

SEOUL -- North Korea is set to convene a key meeting of its rubber-stamp legislature this weekend following a barrage of missile tests, a potential opportunity for the outside world to get a clue to the reclusive Kim Jong-un regime's intentions. The North has often used such an event to deliver messages, either direct or veiled, to South Korea and the United States.

The 6th session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) will be held in Pyongyang on Sunday to discuss issues, such as the tasks and state budget for this year, according to the North's state media.

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N. Korea convenes meeting on natural disaster preparedness

SEOUL — North Korea has convened a national response committee to prepare emergency measures against natural disasters, including typhoons and floods, according to its state media Friday, as the impoverished country stated plans to focus this year on developing its agriculture sector.

In the session chaired by Premier Kim Tok-hun the previous day, the members of the ad hoc committee for natural disaster prevention and response reviewed last year's related measures and analyzed what can be improved, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

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(LEAD) N. Korean leader Kim congratulates China's Xi on opening of Beijing Olympics

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a message to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday to congratulate China on the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics, highlighting the "invincible strategic relations" between the two countries, Pyongyang's state media reported.

An opening ceremony for the Feb. 4-20 competition was to be held in the Chinese capital later in the day, although North Korea is not taking part in the Winter Games following the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s suspension decision.

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N. Korea renews call for U.S. to end 'hostile policy'

SEOUL -- North Korea on Wednesday renewed calls for Washington to drop its "hostile policy" against Pyongyang, amid the reclusive regime's series of saber-rattling since the start of the year.

"It is a universal knowledge that the failure of the situation on the Korean Peninsula to easily be out of the whirlwind of aggravated tension just lies in the U.S. hostile policy towards the DPRK," the North's foreign ministry said in an English statement.

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(LEAD) N.K. leader Kim, his wife Ri attend performance marking Lunar New Year's Day

SEOUL -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife, Ri Sol-ju, have attended an art performance marking Lunar New Year's Day, Pyongyang's state media reported Wednesday.

It marks Ri's first public appearance since last September when the couple visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the bodies of Kim's late grandfather and national founder Kim Il-sung, and his late father and former leader Kim Jong-il lie in state.

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Some N. Korean websites suffer connection disturbances again

SEOUL -- Some major North Korean websites suffered partial disconnections Monday, just days after they suffered a suspected distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack.

Access to the websites of the North's main newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, and its foreign ministry, were disturbed as of Monday morning.

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(2nd LD) N. Korea confirms test-firing of Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile

SEOUL -- North Korea announced Monday it test-fired a Hwasong-12 "intermediate and long-range" ballistic missile the previous day. The accuracy of the weapons system "being produced and deployed" has been confirmed, according to Pyongyang's state media.

"The evaluation test-fire of Hwasong 12-type ground-to-ground intermediate- and long-range ballistic missile was conducted Sunday under a plan of the Academy of Defense Science, the Second Economy Commission and other institutions concerned," the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in its English-language report.
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