SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to pursue high-tech weapons to counter what he called military instability on the Korean Peninsula, but largely ignored the U.S. and South Korea in a year-end speech.
Closing out a five-day Workers’ Party plenary session Friday, Mr. Kim largely stuck to domestic affairs, talking up major housing projects, rural development to overcome food shortages and the need to keep the country’s fight against Covid-19 a priority, according to a state-media report.
Mr. Kim made no reference to President Biden or the U.S., while he brought up inter-Korean relations just once. The military environment on the Korean Peninsula is unstable, Mr. Kim said, requiring that the country’s defenses “be further powerfully propelled without a moment’s delay.”
The party meetings coincided with the 10-year anniversary of the formal rise to power for North Korea’s 37-year-old, third-generation dictator after his father’s death in December 2011.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, waves from a balcony toward the assembled troops and spectators during a celebration of the nation’s 73rd anniversary at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, Sept. 9, 2021.
(Associated Press)
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North Korean leaders for decades gave televised Jan. 1 addresses, which often touched on foreign affairs. But in recent years, Mr. Kim has skipped such speeches, with no indication he would deliver one on Saturday.
Inward turn
The Kim regime has turned inward during the pandemic, having sealed off its borders to ward off Covid-19 and ignoring outreach by the U.S. and South Korea. Pyongyang’s economy has faltered, while Mr. Kim has urged self-reliance to navigate what he has called the country’s worst-ever crisis.
Mr. Kim’s focus on local issues reflects no significant changes to North Korea’s domestic situation or the outside circumstances…
Source : foxnews
