March 22, 2023
Analysis

Towards a “new path”? Five questions after Kim Jong Un’s speech to the 14th SPA

The DPRK leader's address contained ambitious plans — and some striking ambiguities

Kim Jong Un's April 12 speech to the first plenary session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly was significant for a number of reasons.

Among other things, it was one of the first times Kim Jong Un has spoken in such length since February's failed summit in Hanoi, it was clearly a modified version of the new year's address four months ago, and it served as an open message to the president Moon Jae-in of South Korea and Donald Trump of the U.S. about where diplomacy stands to go from here.