【Internal Affairs】
From December 24 to 29, the North Korean media reported Kim Jong Un’s public activities as follows: Kim 1) delivered an opening speech at the First Conference of Chairpersons of the Primary Committees of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), 2) presided over the second-day meeting of the conference, 3) presided over the third-day meeting and made a closing remark, 4) posed for a commemorative photo with the conference participants, and 5) watched performances by the Moranbong Band and the State Merited Chorus with the conference participants.
On December 29, the North Korean media reported that the December 15 quality medals were awarded to best products, including a tile by the Chollima Tile Factory and a bath towel and face towel by the Sariwon Taesong Towel Factory.
On December 26, the North Korean media reported that an art exhibit about the recovery from flood damage in North Hamgyong Province opened.
On December 29, the North Korean media reported that 2016 was a proud year when North Korea demonstrated before the whole world the dignity and might of the youth of Kim Il Sung’s and Kim Jong Il’s Korea.
【Inter-Korean Affairs】
On December 30, the North Korean media declared that the ROK government is to blame for the strain in inter-Korean relations.
【Foreign Affairs】
On December 25, the North Korean media reported that a spokesperson for the Committee for Aiding Overseas Compatriots of Korea, in a statement, denounced the Japanese police for forcefully searching houses of officials of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) and compatriots in Japan under the pretext of violation of foreign exchange law, arguing that “Japan intends to find an excuse to suppress Chongryon by branding it as an illegal organization.”
On December 27, the North Korean media reported that a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a Q&A session with KCNA reporters, condemned the first meeting of the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group as “a provocative act of aggravating the risk of nuclear war,” emphasizing that “The North will hold on to the Byungjin line and bolster its nuclear strike capability.”
