Kim Jong Un Keeps Biden Guessing After Skipping New Year Speech Bloomberg 1/1/2021 Jon Herskovitz and Jeong-Ho Lee (Bloomberg) -- Kim Jong Un built anticipation for a rare party congress he plans to hold in the coming days, after skipping the New Year’s Day address North Korean leaders have long used to lay out their policy agendas. Instead of the usual televised address, Kim opted to send his people “heartfelt greetings” in a brief, handwritten letter. It was the first such New Year’s missive since 1995, when Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, took power from state founder Kim Il Sung, the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported.