(4th LD) N. Korea vows to denuclearize peninsula, rebuild economy in New Year

(ATTN: ADDS background on New Year editorial, ADDS past remark on nuke, TRIMS)
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 on hold until Obama takes office. The latest round ended without
progress in December.
In an apparent gesture to the U.S., the editorial said North Korea "will develop
relations with the countries friendly towards us."
Pyongyang will continue to uphold its military-first policy, but this year's
statement showed an increased focus on the economy. It made no mention of
Pyongyang's customary accusations of joint military exercises by South Korea and
the U.S.
The North's ailing economy shrank 2.3 percent in 2007, following a 1.1 percent
fall a year earlier, according to South Korea's central bank. The global economic
downturn is expected to further drive down its export volume and aid from the
outside
"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.
South Korea gave no food and fertilizer aid in 2008, and the suspension will
likely continue in the new year due to damaged relations.
Ko Yu-hwan, a North Korea specialist at Seoul's Dongguk University, expects
Pyongyang will try to improve international relations to get resources to rebuild
its frail industrial infrastructure.
"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 the country will restore its national system through its
party and rebuild its economy."
The military-first policy, called "songun," was adopted by Kim in 1995, a year
after his father and the country's founder Kim Il-sung died at age 82. The
younger Kim's ascendancy marked the first-ever father-to-son power transfer in a
communist state.
Still, North Korea vowed its unwavering loyalty to leader Kim Jong-il. Rumors of
his ill health circulated as Kim went unseen in the public eye for more than 50
days until early October. Seoul and Washington officials believe Kim had a stroke
in August and is now recovering. Kim, who turns 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 message 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."
North Korea has issued a joint newspaper editorial on the New Year's day as its
policy blueprint since 1995. Some analysts say the editorial has less authority
than before. Until 1994, Kim Il-sung read the New Year message aloud on
television and radio.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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