(News Focus) N. Korea softens on nuclear talks, tightens grip on regime in

(ATTN: ADDS statement from pro-Pyongyang newspaper in Japan)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Jan. 1 (Yonhap) -- North Korea greeted the New Year on Thursday with an
increased focus on its ailing economy and a commitment to denuclearization, a
conciliatory signal to the incoming U.S. administration on negotiations over its
nuclear program, analysts said.
Internally, Pyongyang will try to tighten control of its people amid rumors of
leader Kim Jong-il's poor health and deepening food shortages, they said.
In a joint newspaper editorial that summed up policy goals for 2009, North Korea
continued acerbic criticism of Seoul but made no hostile mention of Washington.
It also highlighted denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as its key foreign
policy goal, a stark difference from its 2006 editorial that justified its
nuclear weapons drive as a deterrent against the U.S.
"It did not directly name Obama, but officially clarifies North Korea's policy
for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang is suggesting that it
will show flexibility with regard to the nuclear issue and its relations with the
U.S.," Kim Keun-sik, a professor at the University of North Korea Studies, said.
Pyongyang sees the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Jan. 20
as an opportunity to start afresh after eight years of largely sour relations
with the outgoing Bush administration. Obama has said he is willing to meet with
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to persuade Pyongyang to terminate its nuclear
drive.
Six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program are
virtually on hold until Obama takes office. The latest round ended without
progress in December due to differences over verifying North Korea's past nuclear
activities. South Korea, China, Japan and Russia are the other participants.
The editorial jointly issued by the North's ruling party, army and youth military
said Pyongyang's foreign policy is "to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and
defend the peace and security of Northeast Asia and the rest of the world."
There was also no criticism of joint military exercises by South Korea and the U.S.
Experts note a tightening grip on the North Korean people. Uncertainty about the
regime emerged this past year as the leader remained out of the public eye for
more than 50 days until early October and missed a key anniversary celebration
for the North's Workers' Party.
Seoul and Washington officials believe Kim had a stroke in August and is now
recovering. Kim, who turns 67 in February, has not nominated a successor.
The tradition in which "the leader believes in the people and the people trust in
and follow their leader absolutely" should continue, the editorial said.
North Korean media stepped up its reporting of inspection tours by the reclusive
leader in recent weeks in an apparent effort to portray him as healthy and in
power.
"This year's message concentrated on domestic and economic policy, rather than
foreign policy," said expert Kim Keun-sik. "The North's main interest seems to be
putting down rumors of Kim's ill health and securing the stability and unity of
its regime."
The lengthy New Year message revived a post-war industrial campaign to mobilize
its citizens for reconstruction. It called for all-out efforts "to solve food
problems by our own efforts" and modernize its steel industry, a backbone of
industrial infrastructure.
"The most notable part of this year's message is its commitment to the economy,"
Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea specialist at Seoul's Dongguk University, said.
To get resources to rebuild its economy, Pyongyang will try to improve
international relations in the new year, he said.
"In the past, it talked a lot about leader Kim Jong-il and the military-first
policy, but here it seems to say the country will restore its national system
through the party and rebuild its economy," Koh said.
Choson Sinbo, a Korean newspaper in Japan that echoes Pyongyang's position,
portrayed North Korea as making a "turning point" in its economy in the New Year.
The North "ushered in a turning point for the renaissance of its economy," the
report said. "The decision came from its analysis of international situations and
its assessment of the country's interests and capabilities."
South Korea's central bank says North Korea's economy shrank 2.3 percent in 2007,
following a 1.1 percent fall a year earlier. The global economic crisis will
likely drive down its export volume and outside aid.
The U.N. World Food Program says nearly a quarter of its population of 23 million
needs outside food aid to get through the winter.
Contrary to its warming gestures to the U.S., North Korea continued its acerbic
criticism of the South, accusing Seoul of being "steeped in pro-U.S. sycophancy
and hostility towards fellow countrymen."
Inter-Korean relations dipped to a record low during South Korean conservative
President Lee Myung-bak's first year in office. Pyongyang suspended dialogue and
Seoul made no shipments of humanitarian aid to the impoverished North.
No breakthroughs are expected unless Seoul shifts its policy, experts say.
"Inter-Korean relations will have progress only when the Seoul government moves
toward a stepped-up position because the North is clear that it won't budge," Koh
said.
North Korea has issued a joint newspaper editorial on New Year's day as its
policy blueprint since 1995. Previously, the New Year's message was read aloud by
Kim Il-sung on television and radio.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)