NK bolsters Kim Jong-un's monopoly on power
By Jun Ji-hye
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will head the country’s recently created top decision-making body, the Commission on State Affairs, officials here said Thursday.
The new organ seems to have an expanded role for handling inter-Korean affairs as well as diplomacy and security issues, which means that Kim has established himself as supreme leader with absolute power.
According to the North’s state-run Korean Central Television, the Supreme People’s Assembly decided to appoint Kim as the chairman of the commission during its meeting, Wednesday.
The Assembly also revised the Constitution and replaced the National Defense Commission (NDC) with the Commission on State Affairs, according to the broadcaster. Previously, Kim was the first chairman of the NDC.
Analysts in South Korea say that Kim is apparently attempting to erase the legacy of his father, Kim Jong-il, to cement his grip on power, given that the NDC served as a powerful state organization under the Kim Jong-il regime which advocated a military-first policy.
The young leader took power in late 2011 following the sudden death of his father.
Cheong Seong-chang, a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute, said, “With the new state title, Kim will likely cement his monopoly on power at a similar level to the absolute power enjoyed by his late father and grandfather.”
The North also appointed three key figures from the military, the party and the Cabinet as the vice chairmen of the state affairs commission ― director Hwang Pyong-so of the general political bureau of North Korea’s armed forces, vice chairman Choe Ryong-hae of the party’s central committee and Premier Pak Pong-ju.
The assembly was held after the North's Seventh Congress of the ruling Workers’ Party (WPK) in May that also focused on strengthening the personality cult of the young leader and extending his rule.
The congress came 36 years after the previous event was held in 1980 under Kim Il-sung, grandfather of Kim Jong-un.
At the congress, Kim was elected chairman of the WPK, replacing his previous position as the party’s first secretary.
During Wednesday’s meeting, the totalitarian state once again affirmed its commitment to parallel development of nuclear weapons and the economy despite sanctions from the international community.
The United Nations Security Council imposed the toughest sanctions yet on Pyongyang in March for its fourth nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch the following month. Unilateral sanctions from major countries including the United States also followed.
But the regime has shown no signs of abandoning its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
The latest in a series of the regime’s provocations was its self-claimed successful launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile last week. The North now claims it has the capacity to strike U.S. forces in the Pacific region.