NK to declare 'era of Kim Jong-un'

Workers’ Party congress to open today

By Jun Ji-hye

North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party will open a seventh congress today that is expected to focus on cementing leader Kim Jong-un’s grip on power and extending his rule.

The congress comes 36 years after the previous event was held in 1980 under Kim Il-sung, grandfather of Kim Jong-un.

The meeting is expected to last for about three or four days, according to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS).

During the event, Kim, who is believed to be 33 years old, is expected to replace top brass with younger people to build a foundation for a prolonged one-man rule.

The congress is also likely to serve as a key event that will reveal the leader’s policy direction as he has entered a fifth year in power. Kim inherited leadership of the nation following the sudden death of his father Kim Jong-il in late 2011.

Observers say that it is also possible that the isolated state will attempt to strengthen the personality cult of its young leader in order to strengthen solidarity among the North Korean people.

According to the Ministry of Unification, the congress is expected to begin with Kim’s opening address in Pyongyang.

Then, Kim is also expected to explain the achievements the repressive state has made since the sixth congress was held in 1980 and make suggestions for the future plans of the party.

During the last congress, Kim Il-sung reported the regime’s achievements since the fifth congress in 1970 as well as the regime’s future tasks to some 3,000 participants for about five to six hours, according to the ministry.

The NIS said about 2,000 party officials who have voting rights and an audience of about 3,000 are expected to participate in this year’s event.

During the rest of the event, the Kim Jong-un regime is expected to revise the party platform to declare the regime as a nuclear state in an effort to highlight its military achievements.

The North has already described itself as a nuclear power state in its constitution in 2012, a status that the U.S. and South Korea say would never be accepted.

“By revising the party platform, the North is expected to state the regime as a nuclear state as well as stepping up efforts to glorify the young leader’s monolithic leadership,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies.

Kim will also attempt to consolidate a regime’s course to enhance its nuclear capability in tandem with economic development.

“Kim is expected to solidify the regime’s parallel advance of nuclear weapons and economy,” said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University.

Then, the generational shift in the party officials may take place during the last half of the event, according to the ministry.

Experts noted that Kim’s younger sister, Yo-jong, believed to be 29, is likely to be promoted to a minister-level post within the party during the congress.

“It has been also detected that the North is preparing other incidental events such as concerts,” a ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

On Oct. 30 of last year, the repressive state first announced its plan to hold the seventh congress of the party in early May. And leader Kim announced during his New Year speech: “We will pave the ground for the construction of a strong and prosperous nation this year as the seventh Congress of the ruling Workers’ Party will take place.”

Then the young leader pushed ahead with the fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch in February, which resulted in harsher sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council.

Some observers say that Kim could declare a new path for dialogue and compromise, especially in a move aimed at signing a peace treaty with the United States in return for abandoning its nuclear arsenal.