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North Korea: Kim elected "general secretary of the ruling party"

2021-01-11T03:13:45.946Z


North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been elected general secretary of the ruling Workers' Party, of which he has so far served as chairman, the official KCNA news agency reported on Monday (January 11th). According to analysts, this symbolic name change aims to strengthen the leader's authority, as North Korea suffers from chronic mismanagement of its economy and is more isolated than ever due to


North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been elected general secretary of the ruling Workers' Party, of which he has so far served as chairman, the official KCNA news agency reported on Monday (January 11th).

According to analysts, this symbolic name change aims to strengthen the leader's authority, as North Korea suffers from chronic mismanagement of its economy and is more isolated than ever due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Read also: Kim Jong-un enjoyed his honeymoon with the US president

Kim Jong Un was elected president of the ruling party at its previous congress in 2016. The 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), which opened in Pyongyang on Tuesday, re-established a secretariat - abandoned in 2016 - and amended the job titles accordingly.

The North Korean leader was elected

“unanimously”

secretary general of the party

on Sunday

, the official North Korean news agency KCNA reported.

"All the delegates expressed their full support"

with a round of applause, she said.

Change of title

This change of title comes as Kim Jong Un pledged Wednesday during the congress to strengthen the defense capabilities of the country, already a nuclear power.

There was also the observation of the failure of its economic policy, admitting that

"almost all sectors"

had not achieved their objectives.

The title change

"is another indirect way of admitting that the plans introduced in 2016 - including the new president system - haven't really worked,"

commented Ahn Chan-il, a researcher at the World Institute of North Korean studies from Seoul.

"Kim wanted to shape a new image

(...)

different from that of his father - by becoming a

'president'

- but it seems that he feels the need to emphasize his bond with his father to consolidate his leadership in these times. difficult, ”

he explained.

Read also: "Art of the deal": why Kim Jong-un is better than Donald Trump

Kim Jong Un's father, Kim Jong Il, who died in 2011, remained the party's eternal general secretary, while his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, founder of North Korea and who died in 1994, is the eternal chairman of the party. country.

The Workers' Party Congress has also appointed a new political bureau that does not include Kim Yo Jong, younger sister and adviser to Kim Jong Un. High mass of the ruling party, the congress aims to strengthen the authority of the regime and is closely followed by experts from North Korea, who are trying to spot any sign of a policy shift in one of the world's most isolated countries.

North Korea is more isolated than ever after closing its borders last January in order to protect itself from the spread of the new coronavirus, which has appeared in China, its powerful neighbor and main ally.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-01-11

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