N. Korea says no policy changes under Kim

PYONGYANG, North Korea, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Policies of North Korea won't change under its new leader Kim Jong Un, who also vowed not to deal with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, officials said.

The announcement Friday by the National Defense Commission was the country's first official statement since Kim was recognized as North Korea's leader Thursday, The New York Times reported. His elevation came a day after the state funeral of his father, Kim Jong Il.

"We declare solemnly and confidently that the foolish politicians around the world, including the puppet group in South Korea, should not expect any change from us," the commission said in a statement. "We will never deal with the traitor group of Lee Myung-bak."

Besides lashing out at Lee, whose government refused to express official condolences to North Korea and allowed only two private delegations to attend the elder Kim's funeral, the statement criticized South Korea's decision to place its military on heightened alert and South Korean activists' launching balloons with leaflets into North Korea, the Times said.

"By taking a confrontational stance with the external world, North Korea seeks to solidify its internal cohesion as it tries to establish Kim Jong Un as leader," said Kim Yong-hyun, a North Korea expert at Dongguk University in Seoul. "At the same time, it is pressuring the South to change its policy."

Despite the anti-Lee rhetoric, the commission kept open the prospect of improved relations with South Korea in the future, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

South Korea's presidential elections will be in December 2012. Lee's five-year term ends in February 2013 and he is barred by law from seeking re-election.

"The army and people of [North Korea] will keep to the path of improving North-South relations and achieving peace and prosperity," the statement said.