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In place of his annual New Year’s speech, Kim Jong Un presented the
report, "On Social Construction and the Internal and External Policies of
the Government of the Republic at the Present Stage" at the Fifth
Plenary Meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the Worker’s Party of
Korea (WPK) in December 2019. The report specifically emphasizes North
Korea’s internal and external difficulties, as well as its determination to
overcome economic sanctions and evolve into a socialist powerhouse. As
part of its head-on breakthrough strategy, North Korea has proclaimed
that it will soon present a "new strategic weapon" and commit to developing its self-reliance in dealing with its domestic and international
challenges. In this paper, Young-Sun Ha, chairman of EAI and professor
emeritus of Seoul National University, argues that North Korea’s old
ways of pursuing a head-on breakthrough are not enough for
overcoming the country’s present challenges. For example, presenting
security threats to the US through continued nuclear development will
only tighten sanctions, thereby endangering the regime’s security rather
than ensuring it. The author suggests that North Korea’s true head-on
breakthrough will be to speed down the path of denuclearization and
economic opening-up. Within this framework of a new head-on
breakthrough strategy, South Korea’s role would be to cooperate with
the international environment and help pave the way for the North
Korean regime to develop domestic capabilities until it is stable enough
to run on its own. [Read Commentary]
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