Conservative activists stand under balloons attached with leaflets condemning North Korean leader... 
(AP)
North Korea ushered in 2009 with an appeal Thursday to unite around leader Kim Jong Il and bolster the country's military while reaffirming its commitment to denuclearization.
North Korea traditionally marks New Year's Day with a joint editorial by the country's three major state-run newspapers representing its communist party, military and youth militia force. Outside observers pore over the statement for insight on the reclusive country's policy direction.
This year's message accused South Korea of an "anachronistic confrontation policy" and stressed the need to strengthen the country's 1.2 million-member military — the backbone of Kim's totalitarian rule.
However, it lacked the country's usual criticisms of the United States, an indication the country may hope to build up ties with the incoming government of President-elect Barack Obama.
"North Korea didn't issue insults for the U.S. in this year's editorial. That showed North Korea's expectation for the Obama government," said Paik Hak-soon, an analyst at the security think tank Sejong Institute in South Korea.
Obama has sought to emphasize his willingness to hold direct talks with the North — including possibly meeting with leader Kim.
Kim Ho-nyeon, a spokesman at the South Korean Unification Ministry, noted later Thursday that New Year's messages in 1993 and 2001 also didn't criticize the U.S., shortly before former President Bill Clinton and current President George W. Bush were inaugurated.
In other New Year's messages, the North has accused the U.S. of plotting a war against it and demanded that Washington withdraw its 28,000 troops from South Korea.
Tension on the Korean peninsula has run high since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, a pro-U.S. conservative, took office in February with a pledge to take a tough line on the North. Ties worsened last month as North Korea restricted traffic at the border, expelled some South Koreans from a joint industrial zone and suspended a tour program to an ancient North Korean city.
