SEOUL -- North Korean leader In his New Year's Day address, he said Pyongyang will "make every effort" to advance dialogue and cooperation with Seoul.
"Depending on the mood and circumstances to be created, we have no reason not to hold the highest-level talks," he said in the nationally televised speech.
He used much of the 30-minute speech to emphasize the need for improved relations between the rival Koreas, along with the importance of developing the communist nation's military capability and the living standards of its people.
| Tomorrow he'll be back to his rabid self... |
He said he would actively seek the development of Mount Kumgang and other tourist zones to draw foreign visitors in a bid to diversity the country's external economic relations.
| Translation: he needs money... |
South Korea hopes for significant progress in inter-Korean ties this year, which marks the 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japan's 35-year colonial rule. The South's president is also eager to bear fruit in her push for easing military tensions on the peninsula as she enters the third of her five-year tenure.
Kim echoed Park's stated goal of laying the groundwork for the reunification of Korea, saying the "tragic" division can be no longer tolerable and acceptable.
But he condemned regular joint defense drills of South Korea and the U.S. for deepening tensions on the Korean Peninsula. He demanded Washington end its "anachronistic hostile" policy toward Pyongyang.
"There is no need to say it twice that in a tense mood that such war-preparatory exercises, trust-based dialogue can't be possible, and North-South relations can't move forward," he said.
| See, the mask is already slipping... |
It marked Kim's third New Year's Day speech. As usual, this year's address was closed watched by the outside world for clues to Pyongyang's external policy. Earlier in the day, he began his official activity in 2015 with a visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a mausoleum in Pyongyang, which commemorates his late father, Kim Jong-il, and grandfather Kim Il-sung.
Many analysts said the North's flamboyant leader would step up efforts to tighten his grip on state affairs and focus on his own priorities after the end of a three-year mourning period for the death of his father in December.
| Ran out of cognac to drown his sorrow, did he... |