N. Korea vows to strengthen military

January 02, 2009|Hyung-Jin Kim, Associated Press

SEOUL - North Korea ushered in the new year with an appeal yesterday to unite around leader Kim Jong Il and bolster the country's military, but mentioned its nuclear programs only briefly and broke with tradition by not criticizing the United States.

North Korea traditionally marks New Year's Day with a joint editorial by the country's three major state-run newspapers. Outside observers pore over the statement for insight on the reclusive country's policy direction.

This year's message accused South Korea of an "anachronistic confrontation policy" and stressed the need to strengthen the country's 1.2 million-member military. However, it lacked the country's usual criticisms of the United States, an indication the country may hope to build up ties with the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama. Obama has sought to emphasize his willingness to hold direct talks with the North - including possibly meeting with leader Kim.

Kim Ho-nyeon, a spokesman at the South Korean Unification Ministry, noted that the North's editorials in 1993 and 2001 also didn't criticize the United States, when former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were coming to office. In other New Year's messages, the North has accused the United States of plotting a war against it and demanded that Washington withdraw troops from South Korea.

Tension on the Korean Peninsula has run high since a pro-US, conservative South Korean government took office in February with a pledge to take a tough line on the North. Ties worsened last month as North Korea restricted traffic at the border, expelled some South Koreans from a joint industrial zone, and suspended a tour program to the ancient North Korean city of Kaesong.