Kim Jong Un stresses unity before party congress

Kim Jong Un, chairman of North Korea’s State Affairs Commission, attended a New Year’s celebration and proclaimed that more tenacious struggle and great victory are calling us. His remarks did not include messages aimed at South Korea or the United States, an omission widely seen as an effort to concentrate on internal unity ahead of the 9th Party Congress, expected early this year.

On Jan. 1, the North’s Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim made the comments during a New Year’s celebration that began the previous night at Pyongyang’s May 1 Stadium. In his address, the North Korean leader said, “In 2025, we elevated our motherland to a higher realm of strength and dignity.” He highlighted the 20X10 regional development policy as the year’s first achievement and praised North Korean troops sent to Russia, saying they had embraced a heroic North Korea-Russia solidarity through a noble victory achieved at the cost of their lives.

In the roughly 2,300-character speech, Kim mentioned “the people” 10 times, emphasizing his governing ideology of “people-first politics.” By contrast, he made no references to South Korea or the United States. Yang Moo-jin, a distinguished professor at the University of North Korean Studies, said the speech seemed designed to reserve key messages for the 9th Party Congress, adding that its focus was on strengthening internal cohesion rather than sending signals abroad.

Kim attended the event with his daughter, Ju Ae, and his wife, Ri Sol Ju. Ju Ae, who also joined last year’s New Year’s celebration, sat beside her father as they watched the performances.

North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun briefly reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife had sent New Year’s greetings to Kim, grouping them with messages from other foreign leaders. The newspaper did not provide any details. This contrasts with its detailed coverage last December of a New Year’s message from Russian President Vladimir Putin, prompting speculation that North Korea-China relations have yet to fully recover.


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