Calls for USFK withdrawal; China congratulates Kim on being supreme commander

 

North Korean media opened the New Year emphasizing loyalty to the regime and its new leader Kim Jong-un while heightening criticism of Seoul and the U.S.

The Jan. 1 issues of the organs of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the military and the Kim Il-sung Socialist Youth League carried identical editorials that hailed Kim as the “highest leader” and called for withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Korea for the first time in five years.

“The party and the people’s highest leader comrade Kim Jong-un is the banner of victory and glory for military-first Joseon,” the editorial said.

“The entire party, military and people must follow the great party in holding a clear conviction for forever keeping to the single path while safeguarding comrade Kim Jong-un.”

The article also emphasized Kim’s leadership of the military in an apparent effort to bolster the young leader’s grip on the country.

Referring to Kim as the “highest leader of the revolutionary forces,” the editorial said that the military must intensify the party’s political projects in order to “consolidate comrade Kim Jong-un’s sole leadership system.”

As Pyongyang’s propaganda organs step up efforts to solidify Kim’s grip on the nation, the young leader appears to have gained recognition from China and pro-Pyongyang groups.

According to Pyongyang’s Korea Central News Agency, Chinese President Hu Jintao sent a message on Saturday congratulating Kim’s appointment as the supreme commander of the North Korean military. The news agency reported Saturday that Kim assumed the supreme commandership of the Korean People’s Army.

Meanwhile the pro-Pyongyang North Korean Residents Union in Japan reportedly instructed the heads of branch offices and affiliate organizations to send congratulatory messages to Kim in time for his birthday on Jan. 8.

Regarding inter-Korean relations, the editorial hinted that a thaw was unlikely saying that Seoul had committed an act “against humanity” in restricting mourning trips to Pyongyang and that South Korea’s leadership was becoming a “target for a severe judgment from the people.”

Seoul only allowed former first lady Lee Hee-ho and Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun and a limited number of their aides to visit Pyongyang to convey condolences for Kim Jong-il’s death.

Lee and Hyun were allowed to make the trip in light of the fact that North Korea had sent officials to pay respects at the funerals of late former President Kim Dae-jung and late Hyundai Group chairman Chung Mong-hun.

Pyongyang also used the New Year editorial to voice its demands regarding the U.S. presence in the South.

“American imperialist invasion force that is the fundamental obstacle for ensuring peace on the peninsula should be withdrawn from South Korea,” the editorial said, reintroducing one of Pyongyang’s favorite pieces of rhetoric for the first time since 2007.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)