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PacNet #2 – Kim Jong-un’s New Year’s Speech; A Kinder, Gentler North Korea?

A New Year’s Day speech by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on improving the nation’s economy and calling for better relations with South Korea has sparked a flurry of speculation that Pyongyang is planning a shift in direction in 2013. Is economic reform coming to North Korea? Are relations between North and South about to undergo a major turnabout? Is the North preparing to change its spots?