North Korean Leader Defines 2023 as a ‘Year of Great Turn’

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. (AFP)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. (AFP)
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North Korean Leader Defines 2023 as a ‘Year of Great Turn’

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. (AFP)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. (AFP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has kicked off a key meeting of the country's ruling party, state media KCNA reported on Wednesday, setting the stage for unveiling policy decisions for the new year.

The ninth Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea wraps up a year during which the isolated country enshrined nuclear policy in its constitution, successfully launched a spy satellite, and fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The days-long assembly of the party and government officials has been used in recent years to make key policy announcements. Previously, state media released Kim's speech on New Year's Day.

On the first day of the meeting on Tuesday, participants discussed six major agenda items, including this year's policy and budget implementation, a draft budget for 2024, and ways to bolster the party's leadership, KCNA said.

Kim "defined 2023 as a year of great turn and great change," lauding progress in all areas including the military, economy, science, and public health despite some "deviations," it said.

He presented a detailed report involving "indices of the overall national economy which is clearly proving that the comprehensive development of socialist construction is being pushed forward in real earnest," KCNA said.

The development of new strategic weapons including the reconnaissance satellite has put the country "on the position of a military power," it added.

Tension has rekindled in recent weeks after North Korea tested its newest ICBM which it said was aimed at gauging the war readiness of its nuclear forces against mounting US hostility.

Kim also said last week that Pyongyang would not hesitate to launch a nuclear attack if an enemy provokes it with nuclear weapons.

The United States, South Korea, and Japan condemned the missile test, and activated a system to detect and assess North Korea's missile launches in real-time, and established a multi-year trilateral military exercise plan.



Iran Opposition Leader Karroubi to be Freed from House Arrest, His Son Says

Iran's presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi (3rd R) joins a crowd of supporters in Tehran June 17, 2009. REUTERS/Demotix/File Photo
Iran's presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi (3rd R) joins a crowd of supporters in Tehran June 17, 2009. REUTERS/Demotix/File Photo
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Iran Opposition Leader Karroubi to be Freed from House Arrest, His Son Says

Iran's presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi (3rd R) joins a crowd of supporters in Tehran June 17, 2009. REUTERS/Demotix/File Photo
Iran's presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi (3rd R) joins a crowd of supporters in Tehran June 17, 2009. REUTERS/Demotix/File Photo

Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi will be released from house arrest on Monday, state media reported, 14 years after he was detained for calling for a rally in support of protests that swept the Arab world in 2011.

"My father was told by security agents that his house arrest will end today," his son Hossein Karroubi told state news agency IRNA, adding that security agents would remain at the premises until April 8 due to security concerns.

The 87-year-old, ailing mid-level cleric has remained defiant, questioning the legitimacy of the clerical establishment in statements published by pro-reform websites.

After calling for a rally in solidarity with pro-democracy uprisings, Karroubi - along with ex-prime minister Mirhossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard, a prominent academic - were put under house arrest in February 2011.

They have not been put on trial or publicly charged, Reuters reported.

Former parliament speaker Karroubi and Mousavi ran for election in 2009 and became figureheads for Iranians who staged eight months of mass protests after a vote they believed was rigged to bring back hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Karroubi's son Hossein told pro-reform Jamaran news website that his father demanded the release of Mousavi.

"They told my father that the same process ... would be carried out for Mousavi within the next few months and Mousavi too would be released," the Jamaran website quoted him as saying.

Iran's judiciary made no comment.

Karroubi, like Mousavi and Rahnavard, had been under round-the-clock surveillance by security guards initially living in his home. But conditions improved in past years for Karroubi, with some family and politicians allowed to visit him.

Suffering from various medical complications, Karroubi has been taken to hospital several times for heart surgery and treatment.

During his election campaign, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian promised to make an effort for their release.