Summary of domestic news in North Korea this week

SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of domestic news in North Korea this week.

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N. Korea accuses Japan of 'nullifying' 2002 joint declaration

SEOUL -- North Korea argued formally that Japan should be held accountable for "nullifying" a joint declaration issued two decades earlier in a bid to improve bilateral ties, according to Pyongyang's state media Friday.

Song Il-ho, ambassador of the North's foreign ministry, directed the criticism against Japan in a statement carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the DPRK-Japan Pyongyang Declaration signed on Sept. 17, 2002, by late leader Kim Jong-il and then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

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N. Korea holds 1st national meeting of judicial officials since 2017

SEOUL -- North Korea convened a national conference of judicial officials earlier this week for the first time in five years to discuss ways to uphold the country's socialist laws, state media reported Friday.

The two-day Seventh National Conference of Judicial Officers opened Wednesday in Pyongyang with top officials in attendance, including Choe Ryong-hae, head of the Standing Committee of the country's Supreme People's Assembly, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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N. Korea calls for strengthened cooperation among developing countries

SEOUL -- North Korea on Tuesday called for increased cooperation among developing countries in order to scrap what it claims to be an "old and unfair" international economic order devised by the U.S. and the West.

The North made the call in a note posted on the website of its foreign ministry, marking the U.N. Day for South-South cooperation on Sept. 12 meant to underline the importance of cooperation among people and countries in the global South.
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