A man watches a TV news program showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014. Kim boasted Wednesday that North Korea enters the new year on a surge of strength because of the elimination of “factionalist filth” – a reference to the young leader’s once powerful uncle, whose execution last month has raised questions about Kim’s grip on power. The letters read ” Kim Jong Un’s New Year’s Day message.”SEOUL, South Korea – Kim Jong Un boasted Wednesday that North Korea enters the new year on a surge of strength because of the elimination of “factionalist filth” – a reference to the young leader’s once powerful uncle, whose execution last month raised questions about Kim’s grip on power.
Kim’s comments in an annual New Year’s Day message, which included a call for improved ties with Seoul but also a warning of a possible “nuclear catastrophe,” will be scrutinized by outside analysts and governments for clues about the opaque country’s intentions and policy goals.
Already widespread worry about the country has deepened since Kim publicly humiliated and then executed his uncle and mentor, one of the biggest political developments in Pyongyang in years, and certainly since Kim took power two years ago after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il.
North Korea’s “resolute” action to “eliminate factionalist filth” within the ruling Workers’ Party has bolstered the country’s unity “by 100 times,” Kim said in a speech broadcast by state TV. He didn’t mention by name his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, long considered the country’s No. 2 power.
But Kim included rhetoric that some analysts saw as a first step to renewing dialogue with rival Seoul. Kim called for an improvement in strained ties with South Korea, saying it’s time for each side to stop slandering the other and urging Seoul to listen to voices calling for Korean unification.