Politics

Kim reshapes North Korea’s ruling party facing shortcomings

Seoul, June 19 (EFE).- Kim Jong-un has admitted to shortcomings in the leadership of the North Korean ruling Workers’ Party and has appointed new members for its politburo, the state-run media reported Saturday.

On the last of the four-day plenary meeting that concluded Friday, Kim took note of “serious problems in the work” and the lifestyle of some members of the party central committee, the Korean Central News Agency said.

Some members “seriously looked back on their party life…with the remorse for failing to live up to the expectations” of the party, the news agency said.

The news agency noted that Kim stressed the need “to draw a serious lesson from defects in the first half of the year.”

The plenary meeting also “by-elected” two new members for the all-powerful politburo of the central committee.

These include Thae Hyong Chol as a new member, and U Sang Chol, as an alternate member, KCNA said.

During the meeting, top officials of the regime addressed the problems in the country, particularly food shortages, and unveiled their foreign policy towards the United States.

In his closing remarks, Kim vowed that the party “will surely break through head-on the difficulties lying in the way of the revolution” despite the “difficulties it may be confronted with in the future.”

In previous sessions of the plenary meeting, Kim had admitted that the country was facing “tense” food shortages and pledged to take concrete measures to improve the situation and ensure food for children.

Organizations in North Korea have warned of a severe shortage of food and medicine in the country for months due to the impact of international sanctions, poor harvests, and the isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In an earlier session, Kim called on his country to prepare “for both dialog and confrontation” with the US.

Experts interpreted the message as his first gesture for negotiations with Washington since Joe Biden took office earlier this year.

The plenary meeting was the third of its kind this year.

It is one of the few occasions when the regime sheds light on its political priorities. EFE

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