The resurrection of the secretary power…

North Korea revised the party rules and resurrected the secretariat at the 8th Labor Party Conference on the 9th. It has been overhauled in 5 years since the secretariat was abolished and the political affairs bureau was introduced at the 7th Party Congress in 2016. The secretariat is an organization that is in charge of and executes practical affairs in each field such as South Korea, economy, and agriculture under the Central Committee of the Party. While the Party Political Bureau is the body that discusses and makes decisions in general, the Secretariat is the place to execute and implement the decided policies.

North Korean media announced on the 10th that “(while revising the Party Rules) the Political Affairs Bureau was changed to the Secretariat and the Political Affairs Bureau as the secretary.” The secretariat seems to be similar to the current political affairs bureau. North Korea operated the chairperson system, but in 1966, at the 2nd Party Delegation Meeting, a secretariat with President Kim Il-sung as general secretary (formerly the chairman) was introduced and operated until May 2016. Therefore, Chairman Kim’s resurrection of the secretariat shows that he returned to his grandfather and father (Chairman Kim Jong-il).

Although it did not explain the background of North Korea’s revised name, it is read as a measure to strengthen Chairman Kim’s status when inferring reports from North Korean media. The Labor Newspaper said, “The chairman of the party committee at each level can thoroughly guarantee the authority of the party as the highest form of political organization in relation to the fact that not only the party, but also the positions in charge of political organizations, including government agencies, working groups, and social groups, are all chaired. , The office of the vice-chairman was changed to the responsible secretary, secretary, and deputy secretary, the political affairs bureau as the secretary, and the political affairs office as the secretary,” he explained.

When North Korea introduced the Political Bureau, organizations at all levels were called as committees, and heads of organizations such as the provincial party chairman were called as chairmen. As such, a high-ranking defector explained that externally, there were many cases of confusion with Chairman Kim Jong-un.

North Korea also reverted the party member requirements to before 2016, such as increasing the period of candidate party members from one to two years, and expelling them if they do not work for three years. A government official said, “Chairman Kim is advocating party-centered state management,” and said, “At the 7th Party Congress, the number of candidates was reduced from two years to one year and tried to revitalize the party, but this time he returned again.”

The official added, “It seems that the judgment that various irregularities occurred during the admission process and the loyalty declined while easing the membership of the party.” In North Korea, party members are regarded as privileged, but in the beginning of last year, when various irregularities occurred for admission or promotion at Kim Il-sung high-end party school, they stipulated more strict management. It is also in the same vein that this Party Code “introduced warnings, stern warnings, and censure for business suspension by applying party rules to not only party members but also the party organization” (Labor Newspaper on the 10th).

Hee-gwan Jin, a professor at Inje University, said, “Chairman Kim has focused on stabilizing the regime for 10 years in power and has conducted various experiments such as changing the organization of the party.” “As a’Lesson’ for the failure of the summit meeting, there is a high possibility that internal and external policies will also apply mutatis mutandis to Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il-sik rather than change or new attempts, and to focus on selection and concentration.

Although not included in the rules, it was a new experiment by Chairman Kim, in his 10th year in office, that the Political Bureau’s meeting was held by the top leader so that the standing committee of the Political Bureau could see the society, and the Party Central Attorney’s Committee absorbed the Party Central Inspection Committee. It is pointed out.

Reporter Jeong Yong-soo [email protected]