Kim Jong Un's New Year's Day speech: What did we learn? | NK News
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September 27, 2026Sep 27, 2026

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Kim Jong Un’s New Year’s Day speech: What did we learn?

In this year's speech, Kim Jong Un moved away from the past with new slogans and a new vision

It has been five years now that Kim Jong Un has spoken to North Korea as the country’s leader in the traditional New Year’s address. But what’s new this year?

Firstly, mentions of his father and grandfather have, again, decreased considerably.

In 2013’s address, “Kim Il Sung” and “Kim Jong Il” appeared 25 times and 11 times in 2014’s. None were included in 2015’s address, being replaced with more indirect terms like “general” or “Suryong,” meaning “leader” in Korean.

In last year’s address, even these indirect terms were no longer present, and any direct or indirect terms referring to the