The North Korean party daily Rodong Sinmun on December 10 published an approximately 2,500-word signed “special article [ronsol]” on the top two-thirds of the front page, entitled, “Our Party’s 2019 Chroncles of the Revolution Will Forever Shine in the Annals of the Fatherland.” 

The overriding theme of this article is the spirit of “independence.” The article recapitulates Kim Jong Un’s accomplishments in tiding North Korea over difficulties in the spirit of “independence,” citing the strengthening of national defense capabilities, the construction of the economy, and the provision of ideological guidance to the people, in that order.[/p