North Korea Calls for 'Human Shields' to Protect New Leader

North Korea called on its people to rally behind new leader Kim Jong Un and protect him as human shields while working to solve the burning issue of food shortages by adhering to the policies of his late father, Kim Jong Il.

The country's three main state newspapers said in a policy-setting editorial traditionally published on New Year's Day that Kim Jong Un has the legitimacy to carry on the revolutionary battle initiated by his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, and developed by his father, the iron-fisted ruler who died two weeks ago.

Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader of our party and our people, is the banner of victory and glory of Songun [military-first] Korea and the eternal center of its unity, the 5,000-word editorial carried by North Korea's state KCNA news agency said.

Asserting that the inexperienced Kim, in his late 20s, is precisely identical to his father, the editorial said, [T]he whole Party, the entire army, and all the people should possess a firm conviction that they will become human bulwarks and human shields in defending Kim Jong Un unto death.

Notably, the editorial called North Korea's food problem a burning issue for the ruling Workers' Party to solve and build a thriving country.

Glorify this year 2012 as a year of proud victory, a year when an era of prosperity is unfolding, true to the instructions of the great General Kim Jong Il, read the editorial.

Destitute North Korea has been suffering from chronic food shortages, relying heavily on outside aid. A United Nations report said in November the isolated communist state needs food assistance for nearly 3 million of its 24 million people in 2012.

No Mention of Nuclear Arms

Many North Korea-watchers in Seoul say the editorial did not suggest any major new changes in social or economic policies, but appeared to be sensitive over the food issue.

[T]o solidify and stabilize his grip on power, tackling the food problem is one of the top agenda topics Kim Jong Un should deal with for now, Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, told Reuters.

The editorial also assailed the South Korean government for pursuing confrontation despite efforts by the North Korean government to reopen dialogue, and it repeated its demand for the withdrawal of the U.S. military from South Korea.

But conspicuously absent from the editorial was any mention of North Korea's nuclear-arms program, the key source of regional security concerns during Kim Jong Il's reign.

The North seems poised to focus its polices on stabilizing domestic matters such as economic issues for the time being rather than to aggressively come forward with diplomatic affairs, said Yoo Ho-yeol, a North Korea expert at Korea University.

North Korea's remarks on the nuclear issue were featured prominently in previous New Year's Day editorials.

Momentum was building in diplomatic contacts between North Korea and the United States before the announcement of Kim Jong Il's death, raising expectations the two sides may be closer to reaching a compromise to restart stalled talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear program.

Those talks stalled in 2008 when Pyongyang balked at inspections of its nuclear sites under a 2005 deal by six countries -- the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan, and Russia -- to give impoverished North Korea aid in return for disarmament.

By giving up on comments on the nuclear issue, the North would secure much room in negotiations with the United States and the other signatories of the six-party talks, said Yang.

In a fiery message last week that marked the first communication with the outside world since Kim Jong Il's death, North Korea's National Defense Commission, which is seen as the apex of power, declared it would not deal with the current government in South Korea.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak angered Pyongyang by cutting off aid to its destitute neighbor when he took office in 2008, demanding nuclear disarmament and economic reform as preconditions to reopen food assistance and political engagement.

Tensions on the divided peninsula reached a new peak in 2010 when North Korea launched an artillery barrage into a South Korean island, killing civilians. North Korea was also blamed for a torpedo attack against a South Korean navy ship that killed 46.

The two Koreas are technically still at war under a truce ending the 1950-53 Korean War.

North Korea's state media said on Saturday Kim Jong Un has been officially appointed supreme commander of its 1.2-million-strong military, two days after the official mourning for the dead leader ended, in a move seen as a rush to solidify succession and boost the younger Kim's grip on power.

Kim Jong Un was named a four-star general and given the vice chairmanship of the ruling party's Central Military Commission by his father in 2010.

Experts believe the untested new leader, who had only been groomed for power since 2009, will rule with the aid of a close coterie that includes his uncle and key power broker, Jang Song Thaek, at least in the early stages of the leadership transition.

(Reporting by Jack Kim and Sung-won Shim; Editing by Ed Lane)