Kim hails the removal of ‘factionalist scum’
Print Edition
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for unity in a New Year message yesterday and hailed the execution of his once-powerful uncle as a resolute act to remove “factionalist scum.”
“Our party took resolute action to remove ... factionalist scum within the party last year,” Kim said in his message broadcast on state TV.
It was his first public comment on the execution last month of Jang Song Thaek, once the country’s unofficial number two and Kim’s political mentor, although the young leader did not mention him by name.
“Our party’s timely, accurate decision to purge the anti-party, anti-revolutionary and factionalist elements helped greatly cement unity of the party and the revolution and strengthened our solidarity by 100 times,” Kim said.
Kim’s tone was strong as he called for nationwide ideological education and political awareness to eliminate “even the slightest phenomenon and element” undermining unity.
“It is necessary to establish stringent revolutionary discipline and order in all domains of the revolutionary struggle and construction work,” he said, pledging a crackdown on “any sort of alien ideology and decadent lifestyle.”
A party statement denounced Jang as “human scum” and a drug-addicted womanizer who pocketed state money to support his decadent lifestyle.
In his message Kim struck a rare relatively conciliatory note with South Korea.
He called for a “favorable climate” to improve relations, saying it was “high time” for the two Koreas to stop doing “anything detrimental to national unity and reconciliation.”
“We will join hands with anyone who opts to give priority to the nation and wishes for its reunification, regardless of his or her past, and continue to strive for better inter-Korean relations,” he said.
But Kim said North Korea would not beg for peace. He accused the United States and South Korea of maneuvering for nuclear war against the nuclear-armed North and vowed to strengthen its military power.
“If war breaks out again in this land, it will bring about a massive nuclear disaster and the US will also never be safe,” Kim said. “We are faced with a dangerous situation in which a small, accidental military clash can lead to all-out war.”
South Korea said Kim had expressed a desire to cement his leadership through tight social discipline. “It remains to be seen whether North Korea will change its attitude as it continues to criticize us,” South Korea’s unification ministry said.
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