Making his first New Year's speech,North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called Tuesday for his country to focus oneconomic improvements with the same urgency that scientists put into the launchof a long-range rocket last month.
Kim, shown speaking on state TV, said lifting livingstandards is the new year's most important task — a clear acknowledgement thatNorth Koreans want improvement in an economy that has long lagged behind therest of Northeast Asia.
He also pushed for the development of more advanced weapons,a "revolution" in science and technology and reunification with"compatriots" in South Korea, which elected a president last monthwho has vowed to open dialogue with Pyongyang after five years of tense ties.
The speech was the first televised New Year's Day message bya North Korean leader in 19 years. North Korea founder Kim Il Sung routinelyaddressed his people on New Year's Day, but Kim Jong Il never gave a TV addressduring his 17-year rule. During his leadership, the New Year's message waspublished as a joint editorial in the nation's three major newspapers.
North Korea also had its first grand New Year's Evecelebration, with residents of the capital treated to the boom of cannons andfireworks at midnight.
The speech itself was a signal that Kim will continue with aleadership style more in line with his gregarious grandfather, national founderKim Il Sung, than with his father, Kim Jong Il, who avoided making publicspeeches.
Kim Jong Un took power after his father's Dec. 17, 2011,death. Early in his first year, Pyongyang negotiated a deal with Washington forfood aid in exchange for a nuclear freeze, but it collapsed after North Koreaattempted to shoot a rocket into space in April. The rocket failed shortlyafter liftoff, but a successful second attempt on Dec. 12 helped Kim gaincrucial political and popular support in his country.
North Korea hailed the launch as a big step in peacefulspace exploration. Washington and others called the launch a banned test ofballistic missile technology and a step in Pyongyang's pursuit of a nucleartipped long-range missile.
Governments are also worried by recent analysis of NorthKorea's main nuclear test site that indicates readiness for a possible thirdatomic explosion. North Korea has tested two atomic devices since 2006, bothtimes weeks after U.N. condemnation of a long-range launch.
The annual New Year's Day message lays out North Korea'spolicy goals for the year. The need for a better economy and improvements inscience and technology were major elements. North Korea has little arable land,is prone to natural disasters and struggles to grow enough food for its 24million people.
Kim made no mention of North Korea's pursuit of nuclearweapons, the issue that most worries Washington, but he did seek to glorify — andlink to the economy — the successful rocket launch.
North Korea's slogan for the year, Kim said, should be:"Let us bring about a radical turn in the building of an economic giantwith the same spirit and mettle as were displayed in conquering space!"
In Pyongyang, residents danced in the snow at midnightMonday to celebrate the end of a big year for North Korea, including the 100thanniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung and the first year of Kim Jong Un'sleadership. Fireworks lit up the cold night sky, and people stood in fur-linedparkas, taking photos and laughing and dancing with each other in plazas.
Kim Jong Un tried in his speech to tap into North Koreans'fond memories of Kim Il Sung, said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Koreanstudies at Dongguk University in South Korea.
The rocket launch boosted morale, Koh said. "Now peopleare expecting him to improve the economy and help them live bettereconomically," Koh said. "Kim Jong Un knows that and feels thepressure of meeting that demand."
Kim's speech avoided harsh criticism of the United States,its wartime enemy. North Korea has used past New Year's editorials to accusethe U.S. of plotting war.
But Kim underlined the need for military strength and modernweapons. "Only when it builds up its military might in every way can itdevelop into a thriving country and defend the security and happiness of itspeople," Kim said.
Kim Jong Un has made several high profile changes in hismilitary and government, and in his speech he called on officials to "makea fundamental turnabout in their ideological viewpoint, work style andattitude."
The powerful military chief Ri Yong Ho was dismissed lastyear, and some officials viewed as more moderate, including Kim's uncle, JangSong Thaek, were elevated.
Kim Jong Un should "now work with those moderates herecently appointed to insure that North Korea immediately returns tonegotiations and unilaterally announces a moratorium on all missile launchesand nuclear tests," Joseph DeTrani, a former North Korea specialist forthe U.S. government, wrote recently.
South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye has said she willmake efforts in her five-year term to boost aid and engage North Korea.
"If Kim Jong Un is going to engineer a shift from'military-first' to 'It's the economy, stupid,' he is going to need Seoul'sencouragement, and he doesn't have five years to wait," John Delury, ananalyst at Seoul's Yonsei University, wrote recently. He said it's up to SouthKorea "to unclench its fist first, so that the leader of the weaker statecan outstretch his hand."