VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for strengthening the country's military, state media reported on Wednesday, as he paid tribute to soldiers and met with troops amid expectations for a major military parade showcasing the latest weapons.

Kim attended a banquet with his wife and daughter on Tuesday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army, state media reported.

"For the strengthening and development of our armed forces, let us all double our efforts and do more for the prosperous development of the socialist motherland," he said during a speech at the banquet, according to state news agency KCNA.

The remarks came a day after he pledged to expand military drills and beef up the nuclear-armed country's war readiness posture.

In a separate report, KCNA cited Kim's leadership of large-scale military drills last year, including the flights of hundreds of fighter aircraft, as "inflicting a strong blow on the largest joint air exercise ever conducted by the United States and its agents" in November.

According to international analysts, commercial satellite imagery has for months shown North Korean troops practicing for a major military parade that is expected this week.

Such parades are typically held in downtown Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square and are often used to show off new weapons, including ballistic missiles designed to carry nuclear warheads.

The last four military parades have been held after dark.

Illuminated aircraft flew low over Pyongyang about 1 a.m. Wednesday, and music could be heard from the square, suggesting a parade was imminent, Seoul-based NK News reported, citing videos it obtained.

Despite United Nations Security Council resolutions and sanctions, North Korea has forged ahead with banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile development.

Last year North Korea test fired its largest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), amid a record year of launches, and officials in Seoul and Washington say it has made preparations to resume nuclear weapons testing for the first time since 2017.

South Korea and the United States have stepped up their own military drills to counter the North, drawing condemnation from Pyongyang. (Reuters)

The National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) emphasized that food sovereignty in Indonesia will help people to produce food from local ingredients that can prevent stunting in children.

"We will be able to self-produce and produce local food that is healthy, affordable, and contains balanced nutrition," Head of BKKBN Hasto Wardoyo stated at the Socialization of Stunting Prevention in Jakarta, Tuesday.

Wardoyo also denied the statement regarding healthy food that must be expensive. According to the agency head, healthy food can be measured by the nutritional content in it and the way it is processed.

In Indonesia, local food resources, such as fish, eggs, and Moringa leaves, which contain high protein content, are easily produced or traded and can be easily obtained by the community. There are also various other types of food that are available throughout the region, Wardoyo noted.

In an effort to fulfill the need for balanced nutrition for families at risk of stunting, the use of local resources can be combined with the contributions of other partnerships. Its implementation must be realized as a form of concern for the preparation of quality generations in the future and to form a quality family, he emphasized.

This can also be supported through the application of a nurturing movement that is contained in eight family functions that are implemented in society, such as instilling the value of compassion, sharing with others, and assuming the target family is a shared responsibility.

"I hope, through food sovereignty, we would be able to produce food by ourselves by increasing local food security," Wardoyo stated.

He invited related elements to change their mindset and consume local foods that contain high levels of protein since the resources are available and easy to source in order to ensure balanced nutritional intake on a daily basis.

"The challenge is to reduce stunting and educate about family life, to become a quality family with balanced nutrition. We also aim to become a big, superior, and advanced nation as aspired by President Joko Widodo," he stated.

In supporting the utilization of local food, BKKBN has launched the Foster Fathers and Mothers of Stunting Children (BAAS) Program that has helped to significantly accelerate the reduction in cases of stunting in the country.

One of the activities of the program is providing food assistance, as an effort to fulfill nutritional intake for families at risk of stunting.

"The most important aspect is to fulfill the nutrition intake for pregnant women and babies. It depends on the role of the family assistance team (TPK) in providing assistance to families at risk of stunting. Apart from that, it is also important to remind families at risk of stunting to carry out routine checks and measurements at the community health center (puskesmas)," he remarked. (Antaranews)

Jakarta (voinews): A joint team is still searching for the pilot and passengers of a plane that was reportedly set on fire by an armed group (KKB) in Nduga District, Highland Papua Province, the National Police said.

"Regarding the condition of the pilots and passengers who were held by the KKB, they are currently being searched," National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo informed at Merdeka Palace here on Tuesday.

The Pilatus Porter aircraft flying on the Timika - Paro - Timika route was burnt by KKB at the Paro Sub-district Airport, Nduga District, on Tuesday morning.

The plane left Moses Kilangin Airport in Timika sub-district, Mimika district, Central Papua province, at 5:33 a.m. Eastern Indonesia Standard Time (WIT) and was scheduled to arrive back in Timika at 7:40 a.m. Eastern Indonesian Time (WIT).

"We, a joint team from the Peace Cartenz Task Force, are currently carrying out a search operation, thus, we will inform the development later," the police chief informed.

The aircraft belonging to Susi Air (flight number SI 9368) was piloted by Captain Philip Merthens, a New Zealand national.

It was carrying five passengers, identified as Demanus Gwijangge, Minda Gwijangge, Pelenus Gwijangge, Meita Gwijangge, and Wetina W, and luggage weighing 452 kilograms.

On a separate occasion, a representative of Susi Air, Donal Fariz, said that the aircraft lost contact near Paro Airport at 6:35 a.m. WIT on Tuesday.

At 9:12 a.m. WIT, Susi Air officers managed to locate the plane's emergency locator transmitter (ELT). The company sent another aircraft to check the missing plane's location. The missing plane was found burning on a runway.

"It was suspected that the burning of the plane was not caused by technical problems. It was because the plane landed and parked safely," Fariz informed.

He said that Susi Air will continue to seek the whereabouts of the pilot and the passengers since they have not been contacted until now.

“We also hope that the authorities can quickly find the pilot and passengers," he added. 

ANTARA noted that the Indonesian Government has officially declared the armed Papuan criminal groups, also called "KKB", as "terrorists" since April 29, 2021 owing to their acts of terror and crimes against innocent civilians. (Antaranews)

Jakarta (voinews): Despite the suffering that they are experiencing, over 92 percent of Ukrainians still believe they will win the war, Olexiy Haran, a comparative politics professor at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (UKMA), has said.

Amid the war, Ukrainians have harbored a huge sense of freedom, integrity, and optimism, he added.

"It gives a huge boost to artistic and cultural preservation as well," he said at Ismail Marzuki Park here on Tuesday.

When asked about how Ukrainians are managing amid the conflict, he answered that rather than wondering about what will happen, Ukrainians are spending their time by taking action.

When Russia invaded, Ukrainians, old and young, formed a long line to volunteer to help their country, he said.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin talked about using nuclear weapons, Ukrainians scoured the Internet on what to do in a nuclear attack, he informed.

Because of the attacks, Ukrainians have also made a schedule of when their cities will have blackouts so that they can plan around them, he highlighted.

Haran said he believes that Indonesians can understand this given that they also took action when foreign oppressors came to their land.

Meanwhile, Deputy Director General of the Ukrainian Institute Alim Aliev said that every day, he takes a first aid device with him in case he is injured in an attack.

All Ukrainians have an application to notify them whenever there is a missile attack in their cities, he informed.

In relation to the blackout schedule that Haran showed, he said that he has to plan his daily life around it since electricity means having Internet connectivity, a mobile connection, and water.

During their five-day trip to Indonesia from February 6 to February 10, 2023, Aliev and Haran are scheduled to hold a series of meetings with several ministries and institutions. (Antaranews)