New Years in North Korea: fireworks, dancing girls and a card from Kim Jong Un

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un thanked the public for their trust and support “in difficult times” and wished them happiness and good health in the first New Year cards he sent to his people.

Kim usually gives a televised speech on January 1, but is expected to skip the speech this year, as he will address the country’s first ruling party congress in five years in early January.

“I will work hard to usher in the new era in which the ideals and wishes of our people will come true,” Kim said in his letter, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

“I thank the people for having consistently trusted and supported our party even in difficult times,” he said. “I sincerely wish all the families of the country greater happiness and dear people, good health.”

North Korea is one of the most cloistered countries in the world and it is virtually impossible to independently confirm whether its 25 million people received Kim’s cards. The cards were reportedly the first a leader sent to North Koreans since 1995.

Kim, who succeeded his father as North Korean leader in 2011, faces the toughest challenges of his nine-year rule due to the pandemic, several natural disasters last summer, and the stalling of US-led sanctions and its weapons program. nuclear.

Kim is likely to use the Workers’ Party congress as a place to gather stronger unity and set new development goals for the next few years, experts say.

The congress, the first of its kind since 2006, is officially the party’s main decision-making body, although day-to-day decisions are made by Kim and his close associates. The official body of congressional delegates is expected to back Kim’s new initiatives without much debate.

State media said North Korea planned to hold the congress earlier this month, but did not specify the dates. In 2006, the congress was held over four days.

On the occasion of the start of the new year, a large crowd of people filled Pyongyang’s main square to watch fireworks, a concert and a flag-raising ceremony. State television showed people, in thick coats and masks, waving while standing together.

North Korea has firmly asserted that it is free of coronavirus, a claim that outsiders question. But experts also say that any outbreak was probably not widespread, so North Korea considered it safe to hold large events like the party’s congress in Pyongyang.