The message marked the first verbal New Year‘s message by a North Korean leader since Kim Il-sung, founder of the communist state and Kim's grandfather, delivered one 19 years ago.
In the English script of the address released later by the (North) Korean Central News Agency, Kim said that to achieve the reunification of the Korean Peninsula, inter-Korean tension should be resolved.
He said respecting and implementing inter-Korean accords is a basic prerequisite to improving inter-Korean relations and achieving reunification.
"All the Korean compatriots in the North, South and abroad should launch a dynamic struggle to carry out to the letter the June 5 Joint Declaration and the October 4 Declaration," Kim said, referring to inter-Korean declarations signed during South Korea's liberal Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations between 1998 and 2008.
Regarding the country's economy, Kim called for making North Korea economic power and improvement of the people's livelihood.
"Agriculture and light industry remain the major fronts for economic construction this year," Kim said. "All economic undertakings for this year should be geared to effecting a radical increase in production, and stabilizing and improving the people‘s living standards."
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com