Seoul, 1 January 2021 (AFP) – Kim Jong-un thanked North Koreans for their support in a “difficult time” in a handwritten New Year’s letter released on Friday (1), the former ruling party Congress It was evening Which will define the economic objectives of the country.
The personal message was delivered after a fireworks, song and dance display on the occasion of the New Year in the capital’s Kim Il-sung Square, despite the coronova epidemic.
North Korea guarantees that it is free from viruses.
Kim usually makes a television speech on 1 January, after which analysts closely look for any indication of the direction of this communist state.
In the previous year, he replaced with a few words he spoke in a party meeting the previous year.
In 2021, he is unlikely to deliver his speech on the eve of the country’s first congress in five years. According to the state press, which has not yet released details, the incident will take place in early January.
After wishing all families in the country “good health”, Kim assured that, “In the new year, I will also work hard to bring the new era first, in which the ideals and wishes of our people become reality” , A paper published by the Central Korean Press Agency.
“I am grateful for the trust and support of our party in these difficult times,” he said, in the context of economic difficulties arising from international sanctions and measures to contain coronaviruses.
The South Korean press says this is the first time since 1995, when the same gesture was made by Kim’s father Kim Jong-il, that a North Korean leader sends a New Year letter to his countrymen.
According to KCNA, at midnight, Kim visited the Kumusan Sun Palace on the outskirts of Pyongyang, where her grandfather and father – the founder of North Korea, Kim Il-sung and his successor – are buried. , Kim Jong-il, respectively.
The Congress, which is expected to adopt a new economic and political plan, will be the first in five years and the eighth in the history of North Korea. In 2016, the first congress conference was held in North Korea in 36 years.
The event is expected to take place before Joe Biden takes over as President of the United States on January 20.
Nuclear talks between the United States and North Korea have stalled since the failure of President Donald Trump and Kim’s summit in Hanoi early last year.
