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Kim pushes for internal unity as N Korea plans crackdown

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If it were not true, it would be a great comedy piece for a movie, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un calling for unity, and cracking down on officials who abuse their power, sounds suspiciously like there is another political purge coming inside the Hermit Kingdom. It wasn’t clear what specific acts were mentioned at the ruling Workers’ Party meeting on Sunday, but with Kim anything is possible, and the head of the nation has proven he will do anything to enforce his will. As reported by the AP:

Kim and other senior party secretaries discussed waging a more intensive struggle against unsound and non-revolutionary acts including abuse of power and bureaucratism

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his top deputies have pushed for a crackdown on officials who abuse their power and commit other “unsound and non-revolutionary acts,” state media reported Monday, as Kim seeks greater internal unity to overcome a COVID-19 outbreak and economic difficulties.

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Committee in Pyongyang, North Korea Sunday, June 12, 2022. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: “KCNA” which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

It wasn’t clear what specific acts were mentioned at the ruling Workers’ Party meeting on Sunday. But possible state crackdowns on such alleged acts could be an attempt to solidify Kim’s control of his people and get them to rally behind his leadership in the face of the domestic hardships, some observers say.

Kim and other senior party secretaries discussed “waging a more intensive struggle against unsound and non-revolutionary acts including abuse of power and bureaucratism revealed among some party officials,” the official Korean Central News Agency said.

People watch a TV showing an image of North Korea leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, June 13, 2022. Kim and his top deputies have pushed for a crackdown on officials who abuse their power and commit other “unsound and non-revolutionary acts,” state media reported Monday, as Kim seeks greater internal unity to overcome a COVID-19 outbreak and economic difficulties. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Kim ordered the authority of the party’s auditing commission and other local discipline supervision systems to be bolstered to promote the party’s “monolithic leadership” and “the broad political activities of the party through the strong discipline system,” KCNA said.

Kim has previously occasionally called for struggles against “anti-socialist practices” at home in the past two years amid outside worries about his country’s fragile economy that has been battered by pandemic-related border shutdowns, U.N. sanctions and his own mismanagement.

The North’s elevated restrictions on movement in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak could cause a further strain on the country’s economic difficulties, some experts say.

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, attends a meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Committee in Pyongyang, North Korea Sunday, June 12, 2022. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: “KCNA” which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

North Korea on May 12 admitted the omicron variant of the coronavirus had infected people, and it subsequently has said about 4.5 million people — more than 17% of its 26 million people — have fallen ill with fevers and only 72 have died. Foreign experts widely doubt the outbreak was North Korea’s first, and they believe the statistics being disclosed in state media are manipulated to prevent political damage to Kim while bolstering internal control and promoting his leadership.

During a Workers’ Party conference last week, Kim claimed the pandemic situation has passed the stage of “serious crisis” and ordered officials to remedy “the shortcomings and evils in the anti-epidemic work” and take steps to build up the country’s anti-pandemic capability.

By HYUNG-JIN KIM

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