Haunting new year’s message for North Koreans to act as ‘human shields’

Just one day after naming Kim Jong-Un, son of former North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il, leader of its army, North Korea welcomed the New Year with a scary message about how its citizens must serve as "human shields" to protect its new leader "unto death."

According to the Associated Press, the first and only Western media outlet with an officially sanctioned bureau in Pyongyang, the message calls on North Koreans to "launch an all-out drive" to propel the country into prosperity.

The country plans for 2012 are otherwise unclear, but with Kim Jong-Un's rapid ascent to power following his father's death two weeks ago, experts are nervous. "Kim Jong-un, as he is now, doesn't hold as much leadership and authority as his father did, so he must hurry to declare at home and to the world that he is the top man in his country," one researcher told The New York Times on Saturday. "And the first institution he must have control of is the military, which is key to protecting power."