North Korea Must Become Prosperous, Leader Says By CHOE SANG-HUN
Published: August 3, 2012
SEOUL, South Korea The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for building a prosperous country in a major policy guideline published on Friday, a day after he told a visiting Chinese delegation that he was focused on developing the economy and improving peoples livelihoods.
Korean Central News Agency, via Associated Press
Kim Jong-un, right, spoke with Wang Jiarui, head of the Chinese Communist Partys International Liaison Department, left, on Thursday.
The statements were the latest in a series that Mr. Kim has issued in which he sounded more focused on tackling North Koreas moribund economy than his father, Kim Jong-il, who championed a military-first policy that lavished resources on the armed services.
Developing the economy and improving livelihoods, so that the Korean people lead happy and civilized lives, is the goal the Workers Party is struggling toward, Mr. Kim said when he met Wang Jiarui, head of the Chinese Communist Partys International Liaison Department, on Thursday, according to Chinas Xinhua news agency.
Chinas help is crucial to an economic revitalization program that analysts believe Mr. Kim is pursuing, including a reported agreement to allow thousands of North Koreans to work in China on a guest-worker program as a way of building foreign currency reserves.
North Koreas reliance on China has deepened as international sanctions have tightened and outside aid has dwindled after the countrys nuclear and long-range missile tests in recent years. Chinas trade with North Korea grew rapidly in the past several years as North Korea bolstered exports, mainly minerals, to China and imported more food and other Chinese goods to make up for losses in trade and aid from countries like South Korea and Japan.
For years, Chinese leaders have urged North Korea to follow their route to economic reform. But so far, the country has only dabbled in such experiments.
Mr. Wangs group was the first foreign delegation Mr. Kim had received for formal bilateral talks since he took over the leadership of North Korea after his fathers death in December. Official media in both countries quoted Mr. Kim and Mr. Wang as promising to consolidate their countries traditional friendship.
Mr. Kim delivered the policy guideline calling for building a prosperous country in a talk he gave to leading officials of the ruling Workers Party, according to state media. He gave the speech July 26, but the media carried it Friday.
Although Mr. Kim called for steadfast confidence in justice of the Socialist system and victory of Socialism, he has recently begun indicating at least some policy shift.
Now that his fathers military-first policy has turned North Korea into a world-level military power, he said recently, the North must now try harder to improve the livelihoods of the people and build an economically prosperous country. He has also moved to strip the military of some financial perks, according to a Seoul-based Web site with contacts in the North, in what analysts described as a possible effort to give the cabinet more control of the economy.
In the speech published Friday, Mr. Kim suggested a reason for change. Not long ago, I told you that we must ensure that the people shout hurray for the Workers Party all the time and everywhere, not only during large rallies but also in far-flung islands and deep mountain valleys, he said. They will do that when we make the country prosperous and peoples lives affluent.
North Koreas poverty is so deep, and its economy so dysfunctional, that two-thirds of its people are estimated to be suffering from chronic food shortages.
While analysts have noted what appeared to be a change in tone from Mr. Kim, some suggest caution in reading too much into it just yet.
Kim Jong-un must promise economic recovery and improvement in the peoples lives to justify his rule, said Chang Yong-seok, a North Korea specialist at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University. But he still mentions the military-first policy. So it will be too rash to expect that he will replace the military-first policy with an economy-first policy. He most likely means that since the military can stand on its own for now, his country must give urgent attention to the economy.
Mr. Kims expression of concern for his peoples welfare in his recent speech is not unusual in North Korean propaganda, and it jibed with his efforts to build his image as a more people-friendly leader. The Norths state-run media recently showed him holding toddlers on his lap and riding a roller coaster at an amusement park, a break from the past when photos of his father focused on formal events like visits with the military.
The younger Mr. Kim got an unexpected boost in the past week. His countrys athletes, one of the smallest delegations at the London Olympics, have won four gold medals so far their best performance since the 1992 Barcelona Games, where they also won four golds.
North Koreas state-run television expanded its Olympics coverage to five hours a day from 15 minutes, South Korean media quoted North Korean sports officials in London as saying.
Poster Comment:
Kim's idea of prosperity is to increase foreign currency holdings so that North Korea can trade globally. Though North Korea keeps its prison population a secret, there is no doubt that the population is large indeed. The U.S. ranks at 707 per 100,000.