North Korea warns it won’t soften stance

NORTH Korea warned the world there would be no softening of its position towards South Korea after Kim Jong-il’s death as Pyongyang strengthened his son and heir’s authority with a new title: Great Leader.

North Korea’s National Defence Commission said the country would never deal with South Korean president Lee Myung-bak, a conservative who stopped a no-strings-attached aid policy towards the North in 2008.

The stern message also said North Korea was uniting around Kim Jong-un, referring to him for the first time with the title Great Leader — previously used for his father — in a clear message of continuity. It was the latest incremental step in a burgeoning cult of personality around the son following the death of Jong-il on December 17.

On Thursday, the younger Kim was pronounced Supreme Leader of the ruling party, military and people at a massive public gathering on the final day of official mourning for his father.

The top levels of government appear to have rallied around Kim Jong-un, who is in his late 20s, in the wake of his father’s death. Still, given his inexperience and age, there are questions outside North Korea about his leadership of a nation eng-aged in delicate negotiations over its nuclear programme and grappling with decades of economic hardship and chronic food shortages.

“We declare solemnly and confidently that the foolish politicians around the world, including the puppet group in South Korea, should not expect any change from us,” the National Defence Commission said. “We will never deal with the traitor group of Lee Myung-bak.”

In a combative voice, a female news anchor for state TV read the statement, saying the “evil misdeeds” of the Lee administration reached a peak when it prevented South Koreans from visiting North Korea to pay respects to Kim Jong-il, except for two delegations led by a former first lady and a business leader, both of whose husbands had ties to North Korea.

North Korea had said foreign official delegations would not be allowed at the funeral but that it would welcome any South Koreans who wanted to travel to pay respects to Kim.

“Even though we lost Kim Jong-il, we have the dear respected Kim Jong-un,” Kang Chol-bok, a 28-year-old officer of the Korean People’s Internal Security Forces, said.

“We will turn our profound sorrow into strength and courage.”

In a newly released postage stamp, Kim Jong-un was featured alongside his father against the backdrop of sacred Mount Paektu, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said.

It appeared to be the first time that the son has been featured on a postage stamp. North Korea has often depicted Jong-il and his father, North Korean founder Kim Il-sung, together in official artwork.

The North’s statement is a warning for Seoul not to take the new leadership lightly, said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Seoul’s Dongguk University.

“It is also raising the stakes in case the South wants better relations so Pyongyang can extract greater concessions” during any later talks, Koh said.

He added that it’s “too early to say the North is dashing hopes for reforms”.

While blasting the South’s leader, the North also offered a bit of hope for improved ties with the South, saying it “will continue to push hard toward the path of improved relations”.

But it added that any better ties won’t be “based on the deceitful ploys South Korea is employing by mixing ‘toughness’ and ‘flexibility’”.

Seoul has signalled a change in its approach towards Pyongyang in recent months, saying it will be more flexible in dealing with the North.

US defence secretary Leon Panetta spoke with his South Korean counterpart by phone and they agreed to keep close ties in the coming months, according to the US.