North Korean leader Kim Jong Un secures another term as party chief during a rare congress, pledging to boost the economy and living standards.
PYONGYANG: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been re-elected as the general secretary of the ruling Workers’ Party at a rare congress. State media reported the decision was made on Sunday, the fourth day of the gathering, “in accordance with the unshakable will and unanimous desire of all the delegates”.
The days-long party congress, held just once every five years, offers a rare glimpse into the secretive nation’s political workings. The gathering directs state efforts on everything from house building to war planning.
In his opening speech last Thursday, Kim vowed to lift living standards, hinting at economic strains affecting the sanctions-hit nation. “Today, our party is faced with heavy and urgent historic tasks of boosting economic construction and the people’s standard of living,” Kim said.
For decades, nuclear weapons and military prowess took precedence in North Korea, even as food stocks dwindled. Since assuming power in 2011, Kim has stressed the need to also fortify the impoverished nation’s economy.
At the last party congress in 2021, Kim made an extremely rare admission that mistakes had been made in “almost all areas” of economic development. Under his leadership, “the war deterrence of the country with the nuclear forces as its pivot has been radically improved,” state media reported.
Kim has already declared this year’s congress will unveil the next phase in the nation’s nuclear weapons programme. The party also voted to revise its own rules to consolidate its ranks “in a qualitative way” and ensure “impartiality in applying the Party discipline”.
This is just the ninth time the Workers’ Party congress has convened under the Kim family’s decades-long rule. The meeting was shelved under Kim’s father Kim Jong Il but was revived in 2016.
The congress offers another chance for Kim to demonstrate his absolute grip on power. He has spent years stoking his cult of personality in the reclusive state.
