Specially Important Broadcasting

In the midst of the 7^th National Convention of Workers’ Party of Korea, government-own Korean Central News Agency released the comprehensive activity report announced by First Secretary of the party, Kim Jong-un. Korean Central Television disseminated the video footage of Kim’s readout of the report as “specially important broadcasting.” Well, what was special anyway? Maybe, it was because Kim unilaterally declared that North Korea was a nuclear power.

In the speech for the convention, Kim described his isolated nation as responsible nuclear-possessing state. “As long as the opposite powers do not violate our self-determination, we will not preventively use nuclear weapon and make effort to achieve non-nuclear world through sincere implementation of our duty on non-proliferation,” told Kim. It sounded like implementing the accumulated resolutions of United Nations Security Council would not be their duty.

Kim also put the gravity on unification of both Koreas. Contemplating the unification to be the most important and urgent issue, Kim required Republic of Korea to discard the ambition of re-aggression in Korean Peninsula, to apologize all the sin in the past against our nation and not to disturb the unification.

Paralleling policy of military and economy was explained as the course North Korea would permanently seek, even if it had not been working so far. While the policy had heavily been relying on military, Kim demanded accurate execution of multi-layered economic strategy with scientific and realistic vision. The party will promote Five-year Strategy of National Economic Development until 2020.

Analysts in Japan recognized realism in Kim’s speech. Hajime Izumi, Professor of Tokyo International University, listed three elements of North’s realism: not making five-year plan, but five-year strategy, to avoid criticism on possible failure; not insisting on “union” as the shape of unification with the South; and not stressing retreat of United States Force in Korean Peninsula. Izumi found that the North thought that U.S. Force in the peninsula was working as the deterrence against excessive action of the South. It was recognized another realism policy that Kim referred to Japan only on the past crime, not mentioning abduction issue that Japan had strictly been accusing the North.

However, it is still unclear what Kim was aiming at. In the situation of international accusation to unilateral nuclear development, it is unlikely for North Korea to get preferable achievement in international negotiation. Kim’s speech can still be regarded as nothing but the domestic message from a powerful leader.