North Korea tells its people to protect Kim Jong-un as 'human shields' in New Year message The destitute North has been suffering from chronic food shortages, relying heavily on outside aid. A U.N. report said in November the isolated communist state needs food assistance for nearly 3 million of its 24 million people in 2012. Many Korea-watchers in Seoul say the editorial did not suggest any major new changes in social or economic policies but appeared to be sensitive over the food issue. "In order to solidify and stabilise his grip on power, tackling the food problem is one of the top agenda topics Kim Jong-un should deal with for now," Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, told Reuters. The editorial also assailed the South Korean government for pursuing confrontation despite efforts by the North to reopen dialogue, and it repeated its demand for the withdrawal of the U.S. military from the South. But conspicuously absent from the editorial was any mention of North Korea's nuclear arms programme, the key source of regional security concerns during Kim Jong-il's reign. "The North seems poised to focus its polices on stabilising domestic matters such as economic issues for the time being rather than to aggressively come forward with diplomatic affairs," said Yoo Ho-yeol, an North Korea expert at Korea University. The North's remarks on the nuclear issue were featured prominently in previous New Year's Day editorials. Momentum was building in diplomatic contacts between the North and the United States before the announcement of Kim Jong-il's death, raising expectations the two sides may be closer to reaching a compromise to restart stalled talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear programme. Those talks stalled in 2008 when Pyongyang baulked at inspections of its nuclear sites under a 2005 deal by six countries - the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia - to give the impoverished North aid in return for disarmament. "By giving up on comments on the nuclear issue, the North would secure much room in negotiations with the United States and the other signatories of the six-party talks," said Yang. In a fiery message last week that marked the first communication with the outside world since Kim Jong-il's death, the North's National Defence Commission, which is seen as the apex of power, declared it would not deal with the current government in the South. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak angered Pyongyang by cutting off aid to its destitute neighbour when he took office in 2008, demanding nuclear disarmament and economic reform as preconditions to reopen food assistance and political engagement. Tensions on the divided peninsula reached a new peak in 2010 when the North launched an artillery barrage into a South Korean island, killing civilians. The North was also blamed for a torpedo attack against a South Korean navy ship that killed 46. North and South Korea are technically still at war under a truce ending the 1950-53 Korean War. The North's state media said on Saturday Kim Jong-un has been officially appointed supreme commander of its 1.2-million strong military, two days after the official mourning for the dead leader ended, in a move seen as a rush to solidify succession and boost the younger Kim's grip on power. Kim Jong-un was named a four-star general and given the vice-chairmanship of the ruling party's Central Military Commission by his father in 2010. Experts believe the untested new leader, who had only been groomed for power since 2009, will rule with the aid of a close coterie that includes his uncle and key power-broker, Jang Song-thaek, at least in the early stages of the leadership transition.