Schill said France could engage a division of 20,000 troops within 30 days to operate as part of an allied coalition. Paris, he added, would be able to command a force of around 60,000 soldiers made up of French and other allied troops. The French army comprises some 121,000 soldiers, with 24,000 reservists.

18:55

I like how Putin clarified that Soviet Ukrainianization and indigenization of other areas of the USSR was not a bad policy in principle, makes it seem less anti-communist than his February 24, 2022 speech where he just says Lenin created Ukraine. This time he's close to the Russian leftist view, that it was the nationalists that divided Russia and the Soviets reunited and stabilized the country.

This is news from the past hour.

Back in 2010, a similar lie was reported: https://www.voltairenet.org/article167599.html

According to western MSM DPRK has supposedly fired 200 rounds of artillery shells at a South Korean island (it was west of not at) and in response to SK planning to do the same thing and conducting live fire drills.

KCNA article from before this was reported: https://kcnawatch.org/newstream/1704456345-947024580/confrontation-maniacs-will-suffer-most-painful-moments-kcna-commentary/

On Jan. 2, almost all units of the puppet army were mobilized in the shelling drill and maneuvers of motorized troops in the frontline area. The next day, the puppet navy conducted naval bombardment and naval maneuvers in the whole waters of the East, West and South Seas.

http://kcna.kp/en/article/q/5a9ffe6e4d6704ac1838b14785365295.kcmsf

The 12 goals for the national economic development were all attained with 103 percent of grain production, 100 percent of electric power, coal and nitrogenous fertilizer, 102 percent of rolled steel, 131 percent of nonferrous metal, 109 percent of logs, 101 percent of cement and ordinary cloth, 105 percent of marine products, 106 percent of railway freight transport and 109 percent of houses under construction. And the overall economy witnessed clear production growth, including 220 percent of motor production, 208 percent of transformers, 121 percent of bearings, 140 percent of electric zinc, 121 percent of lead, 113 percent of paper, 110 percent of salt, 109 percent of cosmetics, 100 percent of flat glass and 104 percent of magnesia clinker, and plan discipline was established.

Compared with the total growth of the economic sector in 2020, the previous year of the 8th Party Congress, the production of important indices largely went up in 2023 by raising the production of iron trioxide 3.5 times, pig iron 2.7 times, rolled steel 1.9 times, machine tools 5.1 times, cement 1.4 times and nitrogen fertilizer 1.3 times and the GDP grew up 1.4 times.

full Report on 9th Enlarged Plenum of 8th WPK Central Committee: http://kcna.kp/en/article/q/5a9ffe6e4d6704ac1838b14785365295.kcmsf

relevant section:

The General Secretary made a detailed analysis of the gigantic geopolitical changes in international geo-political situation and balance of forces in 2023, the main features of present international situation and the external environment of the Korean peninsula. And he advanced the strategic and tactical policies to be held fast to in the external affairs and clarified the need to newly formulate the stands on the north-south relations and reunification policy and make a decisive policy change in the work against the enemy.

The field of external affairs should actively and tactically cope with the changing and developing international situation and write a diplomatic history of the DPRK which accords with the position of a powerful country on the principle of defending the dignity of the Party, raising the national dignity and protecting the national interests.

He set forth the tasks for concentrating the main efforts on the development of relations with the ruling parties of socialist countries to further expand and strengthen the external sphere of the country, further consolidating the foundation of support and solidarity to the DPRK by further developing the relations with the anti-imperialist independent countries opposed to the hegemony strategy of the U.S. and the West under ever-changing international situation and waging a dynamic anti-imperialist joint action and struggle on an international scale.

We should consistently adhere to the anti-U.S. and anti-enemy struggle principle of power for power and head-on contest and pursue the high-handed and offensive toughest policy.

This year we reaffirmed the unshakable will to counter the frantic nuclear war threat racket and all-out confrontation of the U.S. and its vassal forces with nukes and all-out confrontation and inflicted insurmountable security crisis and horror upon the enemies by the overwhelming exercise of the thorough war deterrent.

Whatever the enemies attempt and whatever they choose, it is our unshakable principle and mode of struggle against the enemy to control by super-tough counteraction beyond it and by the exercise of powerful ability overwhelming it.

The conclusion put forward the line of making a fundamental turnabout in the sector of work toward the south on the basis of a cool analysis of the bitter history of the north-south relations which has repeatedly suffered only distrust and confrontation.

The Korean Peninsula is now constantly in the grip of an uncontrollable crisis due to the reckless anti-DPRK confrontation hysteria and military provocations of the U.S. and south Korean puppets.

It is a well known fact that physical clash can be caused and escalated even by a slight accidental factor in the area of along the Military Demarcation Line where large armed forces of both sides are standing in confrontation with one another, and no one can deny the fact that the two states, the most hostile toward each other, are coexisting in the Korean peninsula at present.

Such abnormal situation is not a random phenomenon like mutation in the light of the successive puppet regimes' extension of their policies but an inevitable result of the history of the north-south relations.

For a long period spanning not just ten years but more than half a century, the idea, line and policies for national reunification laid down by our Party and the DPRK government have always roused absolute support and approval of the whole nation and sympathy of the world as they are most just, reasonable and fair. But none of them has brought about a proper fruition and the north-south relations have repeated the vicious cycle of contact and suspension, dialogue and confrontation.

If there is a common point among the "policies toward the north" and "unification policies" pursued by the successive south Korean rulers, it is the "collapse of the DPRK's regime" and "unification by absorption". And it is clearly proved by the fact that the keynote of "unification under liberal democracy" has been invariably carried forward although the puppet regime has changed more than ten times so far.

The puppet forces' sinister ambition to destroy our social system and regime has remained unchanged even a bit whether they advocated "democracy" or disguised themselves as "conservatism", the General Secretary said, and went on:

The general conclusion drawn by our Party, looking back upon the long-standing north-south relations is that reunification can never be achieved with the ROK authorities that defined the "unification by absorption" and "unification under liberal democracy" as their state policy, which is in sharp contradiction with our line of national reunification based on one nation and one state with two systems.

Even at this moment, the south Korean puppets are unhesitatingly contending that the DPRK and its people are territory and population of the ROK that should be reclaimed, and it is shamelessly specified in the constitution of the ROK that "the territory of the ROK contains the Korean peninsula and its attached islands".

The reality urgently requires us to adopt a new stand on the north-south relations and the reunification policy.

Now we need to admit the reality and make the relations with the south Korean puppets clearer.

I think it is a mistake we should no longer make to regard the clan, who publicly defined us as the "principal enemy" and is seeking only the opportunity of "collapse of power" and "unification by absorption" in collusion with foreign forces, as the partner of reconciliation and reunification.

It is not suitable to the prestige and position of the DPRK to discuss the issue of reunification with the strange clan, who is no more than a colonial stooge of the U.S., just because of the rhetorical word the fellow countrymen.

South Korea at present is nothing but a hemiplegic malformation and colonial subordinate state whose politics is completely out of order, whole society tainted by Yankee culture, and defence and security totally dependent on the U.S.

The north-south relations have been completely fixed into the relations between two states hostile to each other and the relations between two belligerent states, not the consanguineous or homogeneous ones any more.

It can be said this is the present situation that shows the relations between the north and the south today.

The conclusion, lucidly looking into and recognizing the reality, stressed the need to take measures for readjusting and reforming the organizations in charge of the affairs related to the south including the United Front Department of the Party Central Committee and to fundamentally change the principle and orientation of the struggle.