North Korea announced its customary New Year’s joint editorial on January 1st, under the title, “Blowing Horns for a Concerted March, Let’s Glorify a New Year of Revolution.” The message, which is regarded as the most influential policy guideline for the nation in the coming year, was jointly released by three major newspapers, which represent the Workers’ Party, the army and youth military. North Korea’s founding leader, Kim Il-sung, directly announced his New Year’s message from 1946 to 1994, but the nation replaced its annual New Year’s message with a joint editorial in 1995 after Kim died. The North’s official New Year’s message has since been announced every year in the form of a joint editorial by the three newspapers. What is the main focus of this year’s joint editorial, and how is it different from that of the previous year? Here’s Professor Kim Yong-hyun from the North Korean Studies Department at Dongguk University.

In contrast to the joint editorial of 2008, North Korea conspicuously softens its stance on the United States this year. There was no ‘anti-American’ expression whatsoever. This year’s editorial never mentioned regular military exercises jointly conducted by South Korea and the U.S., and it even skipped its usual demand that the U.S. forces withdraw from the South. Instead, Pyongyang strongly expressed its commitment to denuclearization and peace in Northeast Asia. But the North’s criticism of the Lee Myung-bak government in Seoul has become even harsher. On the economic front, the nation employs a conservative approach, even regressing to an earlier stage of its economic development. The New Year’s message also places particular emphasis on national solidarity under the leadership of Kim Jong-il, in an apparent bid to quell the rising speculation about Kim’s poor health.

The New Year’s editorial in 2009 is mainly focused on the opening of a ‘powerful North Korea’ in 2012, which will mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the nation’s founding leader, Kim Il-sung. As a method to achieve that goal, North Korea declares 2009 as the year of a new revolution. ‘A new revolution’ here means the second version of the nation’s post-war industrial campaign called the “Chollima Movement.” By reviving the national development program, Pyongyang seeks to renew socialism and reinforce communist ideology. Many experts view this as Kim Jong-il’s strategy to strengthen his grip of the nation and smooth the progress of power succession at his own discretion. Experts speculate that Kim badly needs this strategy to fight growing doubt about his leadership both at home and abroad, particularly after rumors of his ill health spread last year. This year’s message also shows that North Korea’s major domestic policy is to increase food production, develop technology and boost communist ideology in the next three years.

North Korea stresses the need to revive its “Chollima Movement” this year to rebuild its economy. North Korea initiated the campaign back in 1956 to mobilize all working people available for economic development. Many criticize the North’s move to go back to its old campaign aimed at resolving economic problems solely though the labor of local residents. I admit that it will be hard for North Korea to pursue the policy of reform and openness right now, since the nuclear issue is still up in the air and the Obama government has yet to be inaugurated. But I still don’t think it’s desirable for North Korea to tackle the current problems by resorting to the old ideas from the 1950s.

The phrase ‘foreign economic policy’ doesn’t appear in the editorial even once. This indicates North Korea doesn’t expect much from economic relations with foreign countries, including China, in 2009, as well as from economic cooperation with South Korea, amid the global economic downturn. In contrast, on the diplomatic front, the editorial states, “The independent foreign policy of the 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.” Professor Kim interprets this as Pyongyang’s strong will to improve relations with Washington to find a breakthrough in the nuclear issue.

North Korea clarified its willingness to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. It is very unusual for the communist nation to directly mention denuclearization in the joint editorial. It is seen as the North’s intention to solve the nuclear dispute quickly under the Obama administration in the U.S., which will be inaugurated on January 20. The North seems to have included the phrase ‘peace of Northeast Asia’ for the same reason. Also notably, the editorial says North Korea is willing to maintain close relations with countries friendly toward the North, in an apparent gesture to show commitment to normalizing relations with the U.S. Pyongyang clearly shows its typical tactic of improving ties with the U.S. while excluding South Korea.

North Korea experienced its worst-ever relations with the U.S. under the Bush government. Now the nation pins high hopes on the Obama government, which has promised direct diplomacy with Pyongyang. While going easy on the U.S., North Korea employs very strong and clear expressions in the editorial to describe relations with South Korea. Professor Kim continues to explain.

The editorial lashes out at the Lee Myung-bak government, reiterating Pyongyang’s position that there would be no official inter-Korean dialogue if Seoul refuses to accept the June 15th joint declaration and the October 4th summit agreement that were signed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and the two previous liberal presidents of South Korea. Pyongyang thinks it will gain few benefits from Seoul unless the Lee government makes an about-face in its North Korea policy. Criticizing South Korea bitterly, the editorial deals with inter-Korean ties from a very negative perspective.

Regarding inter-Korean relations, the joint editorial uses radical expressions, such as ‘total collapse’ and ‘inextricable difficulty.’ It accuses the Lee Myung-bak government of going on a rampage to stoke up inter-Korean rivalry. The editorial even urged South Korean citizens to rise up against their government. This is Pyongyang’s first joint editorial since the 2000 inter-Korean summit to condemn the South Korean government overtly and call on South Koreans to overthrow their government. The North also warns Seoul that it will see shattered inter-Korean ties this year if it sticks to its current North Korea policy. There are rising concerns that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who is in desperate need of strengthening his leadership following speculation about his health conditions, could make a defensive and even confrontational approach when coping with what he believes are the ‘hostile’ policies of Seoul. Regarding Pyongyang’s harsh rhetoric on the Seoul government in its New Year’s editorial, South Korea called it a violation of the inter-Korean agreement and urged the North to stop the reckless verbal offensives. North Korea argues it can change its attitude only when the South is shifting in favor of the North, and vice versa. The outlook for a 2009 breakthrough in the deadlocked inter-Korean ties doesn’t appear likely. 　 [Interview] Radio Station Helps N. Koreans Learn about Truths of Outside World
A radio station operated by North Korean defectors is located in the basement of an old building in Shinjeong-dong, western Seoul. Radio programs aired on ‘Free North Korea’ are not for South Korean audiences, but for North Korean residents. Managing director Kim Seong-min says purchasing broadcasting equipment is unthinkable, due to financial constraints. He rents this place three or four times a week to run the radio station. ‘Free North Korea’ airs programs on the Internet and a shortwave radio for five hours and 30 minutes per day, in order to help North Korean people learn more about their own society. Kim explains when and how the radio station was launched.

‘Free North Korea’ was established in 2004 with the purpose of letting North Korean citizens know the exact situation in the international community and in the affluent South Korean society. There had been a similar broadcasting station in South Korea, but the previous liberal government stopped the operation of the station in 2003 when it accepted the North’s proposal to do so. That was why we launched this radio station. Only three people participated in the opening of the station. We created an Internet homepage ourselves. We didn’t know anything about broadcasting at first, but with the help of about 50 North Korean defectors, we were able to build basics of broadcasting step by step. We had to do the job anyway, because the South Korean government at the time decided to suspend the operation of the radio station that had been maintained for nearly half a century. We had to start the work quickly, even without any preparation, and learn things later.

Entirely supported by donations, the radio station barely manages to operate its programs. All the employees engage in side jobs, such as delivering milk or newspapers, in order to earn their living expenses. But they won’t give up on this radio station, because their ultimate goal is to educate people the world over, including North Koreans, about the actual state of North Korea.

The importance of broadcasting cannot be overemphasized. Without a shortwave radio, there’s no way for North Koreans to listen to news from outside their country. For North Korea, one of the key elements in maintaining its regime is to strictly block the inflow of foreign information into the nation. The North Korean authorities produce news stories and educational materials aimed at promoting the cult worship and communist propaganda, and infuse them into local residents. Naturally, the citizens have no opportunity to compare their nation to other countries and just believe that their dear leader is an unsurpassed figure and socialism is the best-ever system. It’s very important to teach the concepts of freedom and human rights to the North Koreans living in the reclusive society. I imagine one of North Koreans’ few pleasures in life is listening to the news from outside, just as I did in the North.

Kim served as a captain in the North Korean army before he escaped the country in 1996 and arrived in South Korea via China. He was caught by a North Korean military official in China. While being repatriated to Pyongyang, he jumped off a running train to avoid public execution by shooting. After entering South Korea, Kim was admitted to an art school and submitted a graduation thesis in the form of poetry, becoming the talk of the town as the first North Korean defector-turned-poet. On December 4, 2008, a piece of good news came from Reporters without Borders, the Paris-based international media group. The non-governmental organization awarded Kim with the ‘Le Prix du Media 2008’—the prize of media 2008.

I didn’t even know there was a prize with that title. I learned what it means later. I was wondering if I really deserved the prize, even if the environment in North Korea hasn’t changed a bit. I felt a little embarrassed and sorry for North Korean people. I think they gave me the prize not to recognize what I did, but to encourage me to do better in the future. I told the members of the radio station how I felt about the prize.

Reporters without Borders awarded the prize to Kim in recognition of his efforts to help North Korean people learn about the truths of the outside world. Encouraged by the prize, Kim is determined to work harder to produce better programs at the radio station.

I do hope North Koreans will no longer starve to death. I met some North Korean defectors in China just three days ago, and I found myself hoping again that North Koreans will no longer be exposed to human trafficking. As a North Korean defector, I know how miserable it is to cross the border to escape one’s home country. I hope all the North Korean people will live happily and comfortably in their hometowns. That’s what ‘Free North Korea’ is dreaming of.