North Korea’s Kim Jong Un thanks people in rare New Year’s cards

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’s Day cards he sent to his people.

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

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“I sincerely wish all the families throughout 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 late 2011, faces the toughest challenges of his nine-year rule due to the pandemic, several natural disasters last summer, and persistent US-led sanctions amid a deadlock. diplomat about his nuclear program.

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.

North Korea’s pandemic-related border closure with China, its biggest trading partner, is hurting the economy.

Two-way trade volume in the first 11 months of 2020 plummeted by about 79 percent from the same period in 2019, said analyst Song Jaeguk from the IBK Institute of Economic Research in Seoul.

The congress, the first since 2006, is officially the party’s main decision-making body, although Kim and his closest associates make the real day-to-day decisions.

The rubber stamp body of delegates is expected to back Kim’s new initiatives without much debate.

State media did not say when exactly the meeting will take place. In 2006, the congress was held over four days.

As the new year began, a large crowd 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 and 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.

Also on Friday, North Korea said it has successfully completed “an 80-day battle,” a productivity campaign it often launches to pressure citizens to work overtime and report higher production figures ahead of major political events. .

During the congress, experts say that North Korea will likely stress building a stronger self-sustaining economy to tackle hardships in an attempt to pressure people to work harder.

KCNA said that “the advancement of all people by dint of self-reliance” achieved “a proud victory of the historic 80-day battle.”

He said North Koreans have met or exceeded newly established quotas in factories, mines, farms, flood recovery work, anti-coronavirus measures and various other areas.