Kwak Yeon-soo is a digital editor at The Korea Times creating, editing and curating digital content for the newspaper’s website, mobile app and social media. She previously covered a diverse array of cultural, political and business topics.
Kim Jong-un's rare speech on Foundation Day intended to bolster internal unity
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un gives a speech in a meeting with senior party and government officials on the 76th founding anniversary of the regime in Pyongyang, Tuesday, in this photo carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Pyongyang unlikely to conduct nuclear tests, ICBM test launches before US election: experts
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s rare speech on Foundation Day was intended to present him as a “leader of the people” in response to devastating floods earlier this summer and bolster internal unity, analysts said, Tuesday.
In a speech marking the 76th anniversary of the founding of the nation to government officials on Monday, Kim expressed satisfaction with the country's economic performance in the first half and vowed to implement the 20X10 Regional Development policy, which entails building factories in 20 cities and counties within a decade according to the plan.
On the issue of flood recovery efforts, Kim said North Korea has drawn up “prospective and irreversible” measures to prevent future natural disasters, adding that crop production is expected to be good despite the impact of floods in northern Jagang Province and North Pyongan Province.
Kim vowed to redouble efforts to boost the North’s nuclear capabilities to deter any threats by the United States and its allies, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Tuesday.
South Korea’s unification ministry noted that it is unusual for Kim to give a speech on Foundation Day, raising speculation that his recent address may have replaced his usual speech at the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) meeting. SPA sessions are usually held in January and September, but the North has yet to convene a meeting for the second half of this year.
“This was the first time Kim delivered a speech marking Foundation Day. His speech seemed to be aimed at calming public sentiments, aggravated by the flood damage, and pressing officials to produce major achievements before the end of the year,” a senior unification ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
“North Korea hasn’t announced any plans to convene an SPA session yet. I think it still hasn’t sorted out changing the country’s constitution to redefine South Korea as the No.1 hostile state.”
North Koreans pay their respects to the statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang, in this photo released by the North's state media on Sept. 10. Yonhap
Experts said Kim seems to be facing growing pressure after the devastating floods.
“Kim’s surprise speech is aimed at bolstering internal regime strength. It’s evident that he is having a hard time governing and he feels pressured from worries that his people might be upset or swayed by this kind of difficulty,” said Lim Eul-chul, a professor of North Korean studies at Kyungnam University.
“Kim is trying to project an image of a leader overcoming the disaster as he seeks to bolster internal unity in the face of flood damage and its economic impacts,” said Cho Han-bum, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
However, experts said chances are low for North Korea to conduct nuclear or ICBM tests before the U.S. election. Earlier this week, the KCNA released a photo of Kim inspecting what appeared to be a 12-axle missile launch vehicle, which would be the largest the country has shown so far, during a visit to a munitions plant.
This sparked speculation that the North could be developing a new ICBM that is bigger than its current Hwasong-17 ICBM, which is launched using an 11-axle vehicle.
“North Korea is making empty threats to the U.S. Kim has stressed the defensive nature of the North’s nuclear program. It's just an image of a missile launch vehicle, not a multiwarhead missile. Most of all, it wants to be acknowledged as a nuclear state by negotiating with the next U.S. administration,” Cho said.
Lim echoed the view, saying that North Korea’s immediate task is recovery from the floods.