(3rd LD) N. Korea vows to denuclearize peninsula, rebuild economy in New Year

(ATTN: UPDATES headline, throughout with quotes by Seoul ministry spokesman, analyst)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Jan. 1 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Thursday that it will rebuild its
ailing economy and aim for denuclearization in the New Year, in an apparent
signal of its willingness to start afresh with the United States.
In a joint newspaper editorial that summed up policy goals for 2009, Pyongyang
continued criticism of Seoul but made no hostile mention of Washington, just
three weeks before the inauguration of a new U.S. administration.
"The independent foreign policy of our Republic to denuclearize the Korean
Peninsula and defend peace and security of Northeast Asia and the rest of the
world is demonstrating its validity more fully as the days go by," the editorial
jointly issued by the North's ruling party, army and youth military said.
Pyongyang sees the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Jan. 20
as an opportunity to start afresh after eight years of largely sour relations
with the outgoing Bush administration. Six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing
North Korea are essentially on hold until Obama takes office. The latest round
ended without progress in December.
North Korea "will develop relations with the countries friendly towards us and
make a positive contribution to achieving the cause of global independence," the
editorial, carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency.
Pyongyang will continue to uphold its military-first policy, but this year's
statement displayed an increased focus on the economy. The military-first policy,
called "son-gun," was adopted by leader Kim Jong-il in 1995, a year after his
father and the country's founder Kim Il-sung died at age 82. The father-to-son
power transfer was the first-ever in a communist state.
"To relieve scarcity of food is a pressing problem," the editorial said. "We
should concentrate all efforts on hitting this year's target of grain production
with the extraordinary determination to solve food problems by our own efforts in
any circumstances."
North Korea's harvest slightly increased in 2008, but the U.N. World Food Program
says nearly a quarter of its population of 23 million still needs outside food
aid.
The global economic crisis weighs heavily on the North, as its export volume
falls and outside aid staggers. South Korea's central bank says North Korea's
economy shrank 2.3 percent in 2007, following a 1.1 percent fall a year earlier.
"An important task facing us in the economic construction at present is to
surpass the high-water mark in production in all sectors of the national
economy," the editorial said.
Ko Yu-hwan, a North Korea specialist at Seoul's Dongguk University, said North
Korea's priority is rebuilding its frail economy in the new year and Pyongyang
will try to improve international relations to get help.
"The most notable part this year is its commitment to the economy," he said, "In
the past, it talked a lot about leader Kim Jong-il and the military-first policy,
but here it seems to say it will restore its national system through its party
and rebuild its economy."
Still, North Korea vowed its unwavering loyalty to leader Kim Jong-il amid rumors
about his health. Kim went unseen in the public eye for more than 50 days until
early October, and Seoul and Washington officials believe Kim had a stroke in
August and is now recovering. Kim, turning 67 in February, has not nominated a
successor.
"The glorious tradition of engraving an immortal heroic epic by dint of a
harmonious whole in which the leader believes in the people and the people trust
in and follow their leader absolutely should be inherited firmly," it said.
North Korea did not respond to the South's offer of dialogue. The editorial
blamed Seoul for damaging inter-Korean relations.
"All the Korean people should resolutely check and foil the maneuvers of the
anti-unification forces," it said, accusing Seoul of being "steeped in pro-U.S.
sycophancy and hostility towards fellow countrymen."
Inter-Korean relations dipped to a record low during South Korean conservative
President Lee Myung-bak's first year in office. Pyongyang suspended dialogue, and
Seoul shipped no humanitarian aid to the impoverished North.
Seoul's Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said South Korea will
continue to offer dialogue.
"The New Year mesage was the way we expected it," he said. "We call for a
conversion of inter-Korean relations. We will continue our efforts to resume
inter-Korean talks."
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)