(Photo : KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Images)
Kim Jong Un and his senior deputies push for a crackdown on officials who misuse their position and perform other "unsound and non-revolutionary deeds," as North Korea urges stronger internal unity to overcome a COVID-19 outbreak and economic challenges.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told officials at a party conference on Monday to remove "unrevolutionary" acts like bureaucracy.
According to the official Korean Central News Agency, the meeting was called by the secretariat of the governing Workers' Party's Central Committee the day before in Pyongyang to review the party's pressing duties.
Kim Jong Un Urges To Strengthen North Korea's Party Rules
Kim Jong Un urged party officials to wage a more intense battle against unhealthy acts and bureaucracy during the party. The meeting also discussed the issue of strengthening the party's role in implementing the national tasks discussed at the fifth enlarged plenary meeting of the party's eighth Central Committee last week, as per Korea Times.
At a party congress last year, the North revised the ruling party's rules to reinstate the secretariat that was scrapped in 2016 and elected Kim as the "general secretary" of the party.
According to KCNA, Kim Jong Un ordered the party's auditing commission and other local discipline monitoring systems to be strengthened in order to promote the party's "monolithic leadership" and "wide political activities through the strong discipline system."
In the last two years, Kim Jong Un has also called for domestic efforts against "anti-socialist activities" amid foreign concerns about his country's frail economy, which has been harmed by pandemic-related border closures, UN sanctions, and his poor management.
According to some analysts, North Korea's increased restrictions on migration in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak might exacerbate the country's economic problems. North Korea stated on May 12 that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus had infected individuals and that 4.5 million people - more than 17% of the country's 26 million people - have become ill with fevers, with just 72 deaths.
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North Korea's COVID-19 Cases Decline
Per First Post, foreign analysts are skeptical that this is North Korea's first outbreak, and they believe figures released by the government are skewed to protect Kim Jong Un's political position while boosting internal control and supporting his leadership.
Kim Jong Un said the pandemic scenario had reached the level of "severe crisis" during a Workers' Party conference last week, ordering authorities to address "the deficiencies and faults in the anti-epidemic operation" and take efforts to strengthen the country's anti-pandemic capabilities.
Meanwhile, the unification ministry of South Korea highlighted a recent decline in new fever cases and claimed the North's virus condition might be regarded as improving in appearance based on its public declarations alone.
It further stated that "online retraining and technical course systems" are being upgraded in collaboration with educational institutions to assist public health personnel in gaining practical expertise.
Observers in the country are concerned that the viral spread may exacerbate the poor country's frail economy and the chronic food shortages that plague many of the country's 25 million citizens. After claiming to be coronavirus-free for almost two years, North Korea revealed its first COVID-19 case on May 12, Yonhap News via MSN reported.
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