Kim Jong Un raises his right hand at the start of the KWP Central Committee plenary meeting in Pyongyang on 31 March 2013. Also seen in attendance on the platform (rostrum) behind KJU are DPRK Cabinet Vice Premier Kang Sok Ju (L) and KWP Secretary Pak To Chun (R). (Photo: KCTV-Yonhap)
The Korean Workers’ Party [KWP] Central Committee held its plenary meeting (plenum) at the KWP Central Committee #1 Office Building on 31 March (Sunday) in Pyongyang**. According to Kyodo News, Kim Jong Un “vowed to upgrade the nation’s nuclear arsenal “qualitatively and quantitatively,” and said North Korea will conduct more satellite launches, which other countries suspect are covert tests of banned ballistic missile technology” and said “Nuclear armed forces represent the nation’s life, which can never be abandoned as long as the imperialists and nuclear threats exist on earth.” According to Xinhua English, “Kim Jong Un said on Sunday the country has adopted a new strategy of carrying out economic construction and building nuclear armed forces simultaneously.” KJU also said that ”the self-reliant nuclear power industry should be developed and the work for developing a light water reactor be dynamically promoted to actively contribute to easing the strain on the electricity problem of the country.”
Kim Jong Un (C) reads through the meeting documents of the Korean Workers Party Central Committee plenary meeting on 31 March 2013. Also seen in the front row are SPA Presidium President Kim Yong Nam (L) and (highlighted) NDC Vice Chairman and KWP Administration Director Jang Song Taek (R) (Photo: KCTV-Yonhap)
According to the Associated Press, the statement issued after the KWP Central Committee meeting “also called for strengthening the moribund economy, which Kim has put an emphasis on in his public statements since taking power after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in late 2011″ and “called for diversified foreign trade and investment, and a focus on agriculture, light industry and a ‘self-reliant nuclear power industry,’ including a light water reactor. There was also a call for “the development of space science and technology,” including more satellite launches.”
This posting will be updated.
**Will have the full, actual report of the KWP Central Committee meeting once I receive the KCNA news item on it. The main Korean Central News Agency page based on the country’s TLD [.kp] has been inaccessible (“down”) since yesterday, or is otherwise operating slowly. Uriminzokkiri has some preliminary Korean-langauge reporting of the KWP Central Committee meeting, and the Rodong Sinmun website on the [.kp] TLD is available, but has not been updated.
Filed under: Administration Department, Central Committee, Central Military Committee, central party life, DPRK General Department of Atomic Energy, Events Management Section, Guard Command, Jang Song-thaek, Kang Sok Ju, Kim Family, Kim Jong Un Visits, Kim Jong-un, Kim Ki Nam, Kim Yong Nam, KJI Personal Secretariat, Korean People's Army (KPA), Korean Workers' Party (KWP), KPA General Political Bureau, KPA General Political Department, Machine Building Industry Department, military security command [msc], Ministry of State Security, National Defense Commission (NDC), nuclear weapons, Organization and Guidance Department, Pak To Chun, Party elders, Political Bureau, Propaganda and Agitation Department, Provincial Party Committees, Pyongyang Defense Command, Secretariat, Supreme People's Assembly, Uncategorized, Working Organizations
