North Korea’s ruling party is preparing to bestow a new title on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, another clear sign that the third heir to North Korea’s dynasty of Kims is firmly in control despite his country’s deepening international isolation over one of his key ambitions, to keep developing more and better nuclear weapons.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency yesterday said the agenda for the congress included reviewing the works of the party’s Central Committee and Central Audit Commission, revising party rules, electing Kim to the top party post and electing a new central leadership for the party.
The new title would likely elevate Kim to a level equivalent to his late father and grandfather, who held the title of general secretary of the North Korean Workers’ Party — a mostly symbolic move to demonstrate the young leader is in full control and ready to begin a new era of his own. Kim is already head of the party, but with the title of first secretary.
Photo: AP
Kim opened the lavish congress with a brief speech on Friday that singled out North Korea’s advances in developing nuclear weapons and rockets capable of putting satellites into orbit, as examples of the country’s progress in the face of international criticism and tough sanctions that threaten to further stifle its struggling economy.
Along with being high political theater filled with pomp and ceremony — the congress is being held in a lavishly decorated hall decked out with bright red banners and flags bearing the party’s hammer, sickle and pen symbol — the gathering is a major milestone for the North Korean leader, who was not yet born when the previous congress was held in 1980.
Kim called the congress a “historic” milestone in a grand struggle pitting the North against “all manner of threats and desperate challenges by the imperialists.”
He said it would “put forward the strategic line and tasks to keep ushering in a great golden age of socialist construction and the direction of advance of our revolution.”
The reference to what the North claims was a successful hydrogen bomb test in January brought a standing ovation from the more than 3,400 delegates at the congress.
To put a finer point on his defiant message, outside observers believe, the North might be preparing to conduct another nuclear test soon, possibly before the congress is over.
An analysis released by the respected North Korea-tracking Web site 38 North said commercial satellite imagery of North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site from Thursday suggests Pyongyang might be preparing for a nuclear test “in the near future.”
The analysis said that overall activity at the site is low, but vehicles have been spotted at what is believed to be the command center — about 6km south of the test site.
Since assuming power after the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, in 2011, Kim has pushed a Byongjin guns-and-butter policy of developing North Korea’s nuclear weapons while also building its domestic economy.
Although the dual strategy is his trademark policy, many outside economists believe it is unlikely to succeed because of the heavy price the nuclear program brings in international sanctions that keep the country’s economy from achieving sustainable growth.
All of the previous six congresses were convened by Kim’s grandfather, North Korean founding president Kim Il-sung. The previous one was used as the stage to formally announce Kim Jong-il, as the second heir to power.
“Eternal president” Kim Il-sung died in 1994, and “eternal general secretary” Kim Jong-il — who rarely spoke in public — never called for the convening of a congress, although they were on paper supposed to be held every five years.
This one is clearly designed to put the spotlight on Kim Jong-un, who has yet to travel abroad or meet any world leaders. With that in mind, the North has invited more than 100 foreign journalists to cover the event, although none have been let inside the convention hall.
Instead, they have been kept busy touring showcase factories, hospitals and historic sites.
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