Reuters is talking about North Korea’s Kim’s non-nuclear food by 2022

By Josh Smith

SEUL (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ended his 10th year in power with a speech referring to tractor factories and school uniforms over nuclear weapons or the United States, according to state media summaries on Saturday.

North Korea’s main goals for 2022 will be to kick-start economic development and improve people’s lives as it faces “a great struggle for life and death,” Kim said in a speech at the 8th Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee on Friday. The Korean Workers’ Party (WPK), which began on Monday.

Meetings coincide with Kim’s 10th birthday https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/nkorea-after-10-years-kim-jong-un-better-armed-more-isolated-than – ever-2021-12-15 effectively assumed the leadership of the country in 2011 after the death of his father.

Kim has used previous talks about the new year to make big political announcements, including launching major diplomatic commitments with South Korea and the United States.

But summaries of his speech, which were published in the North Korean state media, made no specific reference to the United States, only a passing reference to inter-Korean relations and vague discussions on “foreign affairs.”

The focus of the speech was to highlight Kim’s economic problems at home, where self-imposed pandemic blockades have left North Korea more isolated than ever, with international aid agencies warning of possible food shortages and humanitarian crises.

“The main task of our Party and the people next year is to provide a sure guarantee for the implementation of the five-year plan and to bring about a significant change in the development of the state and the standard of living of the people,” Kim said.

Kim spent most of his speech defining domestic issues, from an ambitious plan for rural development, to the need to suppress people’s diets, school uniforms, and “non-socialist practices”.

Chad O’Carroll, the founder of NK News, a North Seoul-based website that monitors North Korea, said the focus on rural development is a populist strategy.

“Overall, Kim may be aware that this year’s introduction of sophisticated military development plans while people are suffering from food shortages and harsh conditions outside of Pyongyang may not have been a good idea this year,” he wrote on Twitter (NYSE :).

Saturday’s state media report cited the development of “one ultramodern weapon system after another” as an important achievement over the past year, and Kim said he called for strengthening national defense to deal with an unstable international situation.

A tractor factory discussed at the conference is likely to have been used to build missile-launching vehicles, foreign analysts say, and North Korea is believed to have expanded its arsenal despite blockades.

Reports of Kim’s speech did not mention the U.S. call for denuclearization talks, nor the push for South Korea to formally end the 1950-1953 Korean War as a way to restart these negotiations.

North Korea has said it is open to diplomacy, but U.S. openings appear to be gaps as long as “hostile actions” (such as military exercises and sanctions) continue.