Minutes of the Visit of a Delegation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the People’s Republic of Poland (PRL) in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

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MINUTES

of the visit of a delegation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the People’s Republic of Poland (PRL) in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

In the framework of the party-state delegation paid a friendly visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, on September 24-28, 1986, at the invitation of the Minister of Public Security of the DPRK, Gen. Paek Hak-rim together with a delegation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the People’s Republic of Poland composed of:

Chief of delegation:

Gen. of the Branch Czesław Kiszczak, member of the Political Bureau of Central Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR), Minister of Internal Affairs of the People’s Republic of Poland,

Members of the delegation:

- Div. Gen.  Władysław Ciastoń - Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Chief of the Security Service;

- Div. Gen. Józef Beim - Chief Constable of the Citizens’ Militia (MO);

- Col. Janusz Sereda - Director of Department II of the Ministry of Internal Affairs;

- Col. Czesław Żmuda - Director of the Cabinet of the Minister of Internal Affairs;

- Junior Warrant Officer Henryk Pielaciński - security officer.

Apart from participating in the general visit program of the PRL party-state delegation to the DPRK, the Minister of Internal Affairs, com[rade] General of the Branch , Czesław Kiszczak also implemented a separate program agreed with the Korean side. This involved on September 26, 1986, plenary talks between the delegations of the PRL Ministry of Internal Affairs and the DPRK Ministry of Public Security.

First, the Minister of Public Security of the DPRK, General of the Army Paek Hak-rim welcomed the Polish delegation. He expressed his conviction that the talks would promote closer cooperation between the two departments. He stressed that the [two] peoples: Poland and Korea have a long tradition of fighting for the realization of [people’s] democracy. He recalled that the Polish people supported and helped the Korean people in their patriotic war for their homeland, and now is also in favor of and expressing solidarity in the just struggle for the reunification of the country. This help will not be forgotten and they will always be grateful for it.

The visit of Kim Il Sung to Poland - in the opinion of the Korean side - has further strengthened cooperation and mutual support. The current visit of the PRL party-state delegation to the DPRK serves the same purposes. They welcome the fact that the mutual relations are good. In line with the position of the DPRK party and state leadership, they wish to further develop and strengthen them.

That was the reason behind the visit of the DPRK Ministry of Public Security delegation to Poland, in October 1985.  They are grateful for the fire-fighting equipment obtained during the visit. Also for the help they was offered to their athletes, especially by allowing them to practice.

They highly appreciate the agreement signed in May 1985 during the visit Under-Secretary of State Div. Gen.  Stanislaw Zaczkowski, which provides for training of their fire department officers at the Main School of Fire Service in Warsaw and holiday exchanges of eight persons per year. They are grateful for the aid they have been offered in this respect.

Com[rade] Paek Hak-rim stressed that they were aware of the successes that the Polish people achieved in the past 40 years. He particularly appreciated the last period in which Poland, under the leadership of Com[rade] Wojciech Jaruzelski, successfully opposed the intrigues of reactionary and imperialist forces and defended the achievements of socialism. They are familiar with the efforts of the party and the Government of the PRL to strengthen ideological unity and to ensure a sufficiently high standard of living for the people. They are also familiar with the resolutions of the Tenth Congress of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR). They sincerely wish the Polish people every success in implementing these resolutions. They also sympathize with the initiatives of our government in the fight for peace in Europe and all around the world. They want to strengthen friendship and comprehensive cooperation between our friendly parties and nations.

Com[rade] Gen. Paek Hak-rim proposed:

1. That [both parties] further develop cooperation between the DPRK Ministry of Public Security and the PRL Ministry of Internal Affairs in the field of science and technology;

2. Exchange delegations to discuss experiences in the efforts to maintain public order and the fight crime;

3. Set up a joint Commission composed of fire-fighting experts to enhance the exchange of experience and deepen cooperation, particularly in the field of fire-fighting. Such a commission, composed of 2-3 persons from either side, who hold comparable positions, could meet alternately in Warsaw and in Pyongyang.

Gen. Paek Hak-rim asked for assistance in the field of fire-fighting. He also asked, if possible, to provide them with documentation of the fire-fighting vessel and the equipment for the production of fire-fighting foam. As far as the vessel is concerned, they are mainly interested in the equipment.

Gen. Paek Hak-rim invited [a Polish delegation] to visit the DPRK in 1987:

- The PRL Minister of Internal Affairs, Com[rade] Gen. of the Branch Czesław Kiszczak;

- Citizens’ Militia Chief Constable. Com[rade] Div. Gen. Józef Beim;

- Commandant of the Scientific and Research Centre for Fire Protection.

* * *

Then the PRL Minister of Internal Affairs, Gen. of the Branch, Czesław Kiszczak, spoke.

The head of the Polish delegation thanked for the warm, friendly reception, for the warm words addressed to us and also to the Polish people and their leader, General Wojciech Jaruzelski.

Subsequently, Com[rade] Gen. of the Branch Czesław Kiszczak presented information on the political, social and operational situation in the country (text attached),

Comrade Minister agreed to the creation of a joint commission - he proposed only that it should have a broader remit, including matters mentioned in the statement of the Minister of Internal Affairs. Com[rade] The Minister also stated that the other proposals of the Korean side were feasible.

Gen. Paek Hak-rim thanked for what he considered interesting and comprehensive information. He also welcomed the suggestions made by the Polish interlocutor.

Thanking for the invitation by the Minister of Internal Affairs of the People’s Republic of Poland, Gen. of the Branch Czesław Kiszczak to visit Poland, he reiterated his invitation to Gen. of the Branch Czesław Kiszczak to revisit the DPRK.

* * *

In addition to the plenary talks held at the DPRK Ministry of Public Security, such talks also took place at the DPRK Ministry of State Security.

On September 29, 1986 in Pyongyang, members of the delegation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the People’s Republic of Poland: Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Com[rade] Div. Gen. Władyslaw Ciastoń and Director of Department II, Col.  Janusz Sereda, M.Sc., Eng. held plenary talks with the DPRK Deputy Minister of State Security, Gen. of the Branch Kim Yong-ryong, and the Director of the Department of Counterintelligence in the Ministry.

During meeting Com[rade] Gen. Władysław Ciastoń acquainted the hosts with the social and political situation of our country, the resolutions of the Tenth Congress of Polish United Workers’ Party and the actions taken by the Ministry of Internal Affairs against the opposition, following the implementation of the law on extraordinary treatment of perpetrators of certain crimes.

In contrast, Director of Department II of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in a synthetic form, described the activities of the Western security services vis-à-vis Poland and presented the recent achievements of the counterintelligence service in the exposure of the adversary's agents.

Information on this subject was received by Korean comrades with great interest.

Then Deputy Minister Gen. Kim Yong-ryong thanked for the intensifying and valuable cooperation with the PRL Ministry of Internal Affairs and presented assessment of the internal situation in the DPRK, focusing primarily on external threats to state security. He said among others:

- There is complete political stability in the people's [republic of] Korea, and "the entire nation is centered around Kim Il Sung";

- the main threats to the DPRK stem from the political confrontational course of the Washington administration, which at all costs seeks to expand its influence in Asia, as indicated by, for example, the US efforts to form a military alliance between Washington, Tokyo and Seoul;

- The United States adopted a strategy of a military coup in the DPRK, on the assumption that Korea was the "key to opening the door to the control of Asia;

- this objective, based on Reagan’s concept of the so-called free world, the United States and South Korea intended to achieve by nuclear and chemical war;

- that preparation for war has intensified is demonstrated by the increased scale of secret military exercises and maneuvers involving specialized US detachment;

- over 1000 nuclear weapon units are currently deployed in South Korea, including mainly medium-range cruise missiles;

- The US is providing its South Korean ally with a substantial military assistance, this year worth around $3 billion.  The US plans to provide military assistance to South Korea to the tune of $8-9 billion per year until 1990. South Korea currently spends around $ 5 billion on arms. 

- In the framework of the confrontational strategy, Seoul uses all possibilities for initiating political and propaganda activities, aimed at discrediting the DPRK, such as the Asian Games and the Olympic Games to be held in South Korea.

Addressing the activities of the Western security services against the DPRK gen. Kim Yong-ryong stressed that

- the chief enemy that is the primary target of DPRK counterintelligence is the South Korean intelligence service.

- Seoul's significant problems are caused by sabotage operations that consists in smuggling and distribution (by means of balloons, among others) of leaflets with hostile content;

- The South Korean security services are surveil DPRK representations and personnel in both the capitalist and socialist countries;

- they recruit agents from Korean residents abroad and place them in the DPRK under a false flag. In addition, for their intelligence operations, they use not only their own diplomats but also representatives of other capitalist countries;

- Recently, Seoul's security services ordered their own foreign intelligence stationed abroad in 70 countries of the world to get ready for war. They were given the task of collecting materials that would make it possible to charge the DPRK with the political and propaganda for the possible outbreak of an armed conflict;

- South Korea's special services work closely with US and other Western countries intelligence services, including with Japan, mainly in the exchange of intelligence;

- they have also recently intensified cooperation with the intelligence services of the developing countries. It consists  primarily in providing technical assistance to the security services of these countries (in the field of electronic listening devices)  in return for information thus obtained. For example, Singapore's security services conducted monitoring of the diplomatic missions of the socialist countries using South Korean equipment.

In conclusion, Gen. Kim Yong-ryong claimed that the people of the DPRK are preparing for war. Most of the military installations and armaments factories were built underground, in fear of nuclear attack. Therefore, it seems more likely that the enemy will start a chemical war. Pyongyang is trying to neutralize existing threats and therefore is engaged in a dialog with the Seoul regime.

Gen. Kim Yong-ryong, quoting the DPRK leader Kim Il Sung on the need to strengthen cooperation with Poland, considered the cooperation of the [security] services of both countries very important. He emphasized the determination of the DPRK Ministry of Sate Security to strengthen contacts with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the People’s Republic of Poland, mainly in the field of information exchange, technical cooperation and joint operations. At the same time he suggested that the Ministry of State Security was awaiting further assistance from our side.

At the end of the talks, Gen. Kim Yong-ryong thanked the Polish Minister for inviting the DPRK Minister of State Security, Ri Chin-su, and asked for an earlier visit at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Korean experts particularly interested in the [operations ] of the "W” Bureau and in our experience in the detection of secret messages.

The remaining part of the visit was carried out by a delegation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs according to the visit plan of the party and state delegation of the People’s Republic of Poland in the DPRK.

Minutes by

Col. Czesław ŻMUDA

[signature]

Warsaw October 10, 1986