North Korea’s “New Year’s Day Joint Editorial” lays out the government’s policy priorities for the year—similar to a US State of the Union address. In the editorial, which is quite long, the government committed to strengthening the military, ridding the peninsula of nuclear weapons, improving the economy (energy, agriculture, and transport) and improving the people’s quality of life. Although the editorial is quite long, KCNA published a summary (KCNA link here, PDF here).
Today the Korean Worker’s Party threw itself a rally in Kim il Sung Square in support of the 2009 Joint Editorial.
Here are some reactions in the press:
Jon Herskovitz in Reuters, Korea Times, AFP, Xinhua.
