Kim Jong Un’s New Year’s address is a signal that North Korea’s transition to a “normal country” is on track despite a lack of rapid progress in denuclearisation. The international community needs to keep engaging Pyongyang in order to encourage positive reform.

It is important to keep in mind that the dramatic changes in North Korea’s relations with the outside world that took place in 2018 all started with supreme leader Kim’s New Year’s address one year ago. In the face of stalled progress in US-North Korea relations since the historic Singapore summit in June, analysts have looked to this New Year’s speech to provide an insight into Mr Kim’s intentions and his country’s future trajectory.

The overall image of North Korea that emerges from the speech is a country focused on economic development and modernisation. Mr Kim spent the bulk of this speech highlighting achievements and areas for improvement in the economy and society. At the start of the speech, he made clear the country has been on an all-out campaign for economic development since making the shift last April away from the “byungjin” policy of simultaneous progress in economic and military spheres. When he then briefly touched on the importance of military strength, Mr Kim took care to add that the defence industry’s goal was to support the economy.