hankyoreh

North Korea vowed Monday it will continue to uphold in the new year its military-first policy that has helped it develop nuclear weapons and strive to rebuild its moribund economy.

In a joint newspaper editorial that summed up its policy goals for 2007, the hard-line communist country also called for unflinching loyalty to leader Kim Jong-il who will turn 65.

"Our access to a nuclear deterrent was an auspicious event in the national history as it meant the realization of the Korean people's centuries-old desire to have national strength no one could dare challenge," said the editorial carried jointly by newspapers representing the North's party, military and youth militia.

The editorial has replaced the North's New Year message since its founding president, Kim Il-sung, died in 1994. His son and current leader, Kim Jong-il, took over in communism's first power succession.

"Our nuclear deterrent serves as a powerful force for defending peace and security in Northeast Asia and guaranteeing the victorious advance of the cause of independence," the editorial said, referring to the country's first-ever nuclear bomb test on Oct. 9.

The editorial also urged both Koreas to unite in fighting against U.S. pressure and intervention in Korean affairs.

The entire Korean people "should see through the U.S. hegemonic and aggressive nature, and launch a dynamic campaign to drive the U.S. occupation troops, the root cause of war, out of South Korea," it said.

Without any direct mention of resumed six-party talks on its nuclear program, the editorial, titled, "Usher in a great heyday of Songun Korea full of confidence in victory!" also called for stepped-up efforts to rebuild the country's floundering economy and survive U.S.-imposed sanctions on the North.

Songun is the North's military-first policy adopted by Kim Jong-il in 1995, a year after his father died of heart failure at the age of 82.

The U.S. last year imposed financial sanctions on the North for its alleged money laundering and other illegal activities, forcing Pyongyang to boycott the six-nation nuclear talks for one year.

The talks were reconvened last month, but ended without any progress.

Calling reviving North Korea's dilapidated economy "the main task in the present general march," the editorial said emphasis should be put on farming to alleviate the country's chronic food shortages.

"We should, as in the past, keep up farming as the great foundation of the country and make an epoch-making advance in solving the problem of food for the people," it said.

The editorial also pledged to increase production of better consumer goods and develop power, coal-mining, metal and rail transport industries, among other areas.

With its economy in shambles, North Korea has been relying on international handouts to help feed its people. A famine in the late 1990s is believed to have killed more than 2 million North Koreans, according to officials and experts from the U.S. and other countries.

South Korean analysts said the tone of the North's editorial indicates that it may be much more difficult than before to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear ambitions.

"The half of the new year message was bolstering the national pride of nuclear possession," said Kim Tae-woo, a senior researcher of the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.

"I feel that the North will not easily give up its nuclear programs so that the prospects for the six-party talks are not bright."

Yoo Ho-yeol, a North Korea expert at Korea University in Seoul, said North Korea, through the editorial, showed its desire to expand economic ties with the South.

"They're saying they'll resolve everything on their own, but most of them can be achieved only through the improvement of inter-Korean relations," Yoo said.

South Korea has suspended its humanitarian aid to North Korea since early July, when its northern neighbor defiantly test-fired seven missiles. The North further angered South Korea by detonating a nuclear device in October.

In the editorial, the North also made it clear that it opposes a possible conservative opposition win in South Korea in December's presidential elections.

"The Grand National Party (GNP) and other reactionary conservatives are now making desperate efforts to realize their traitorous attempts and ambition for regaining power with the help of the outside forces," it said.

According to recent opinion polls, candidates from the GNP, which calls for a harder line on the North, are way ahead of members of the liberal ruling Uri Party, which supports reconciliation with the communist country.

In a separate report, the KCNA also said Kim Jong-il visited the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang, the capital, where the embalmed body of his father is kept.

The leader was accompanied by several top military leaders, including Vice Marshal Kim Yong Chun who serves as chief of the army's general staff, and Vice Marshal Kim Il Chol, a member of the National Defense Commission and minister of the People's Armed Forces, the KCNA said in a separate report.

Kim Jong-il, in his capacity as general secretary of the Workers' Party and chairman of the National Defense Committee, controls the country's 1.1-million-member military, the world's fifth largest.

"The headquarters of revolution is the centre of unity, centre of leadership, and also the symbol of strength and dignity of Songun Korea," said the editorial, urging the North's 23 million people to remain faithful to Kim Jong-il.

By "headquarters," the North means Kim Jong-il.

Seoul, Jan. 1 (Yonhap News)