Kim Jong-un Elected General Secretary of the Workers' Party... Kim Yo-jong Also Excluded from the Politburo Candidate Members (2nd Report)

6th Day of the 8th Labor Party Congress

On the 9th, the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea held discussions on the summary of the Central Committee's work, the summary of the Central Inspection Commission's work, and amendments to the Party Charter, according to a report by the Korean Central News Agency on the 10th.
Photo by Ri Pyong-chol, Vice Chairman of the Party Central Military Commission (from left), Kim Jong-un, Party Chairman, and Choe Ryong-hae, First Vice Chairman of the State Affairs Commission.

Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of North Korea, has been appointed as the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea.

North Korea's state media, Korean Central News Agency, reported on the 11th about the sixth day of the 8th Party Congress held the previous day, stating, "It has been decided to highly appoint Comrade Kim Jong-un as the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea."

On the 9th, North Korea amended the party charter, reverting the party leadership system from the chairman system back to the secretary system after five years.

Kim Yo-jong, Kim Jong-un's younger sister, who was expected to have her status elevated, was removed from her previous position as a candidate member of the Political Bureau. She also did not appear on the list of department heads.

Choe Yong-won, a close aide who shadowed Kim Jong-un, took on key positions and quickly rose to become the fifth in the power hierarchy.

Choe Yong-won was elected as a member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee, which now consists of five members: Kim Jong-un, and the existing members Choe Ryong-hae, Ri Pyong-chol, Kim Tok-hun, and Choe Yong-won.

Choe Yong-won was also appointed as a secretary of the Party Central Committee and a member of the Party Central Military Commission, and is believed to have taken on the role of organizational secretary.

Park Pong-ju, a former member of the Political Bureau Standing Committee and vice chairman of the party, stepped down from all party positions.

Choe Son-hui, First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs responsible for U.S. strategy, was demoted from a full member to a candidate member of the Party Central Committee.

On the other hand, Ri Son-gwon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, retained his position as a candidate member of the Political Bureau.

Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the party who oversaw inter-Korean affairs, was removed from the party secretary position but appeared on the list of department heads, suggesting that North Korea eliminated the secretary position for inter-Korean affairs and retained only the department head position.

Jang Kum-chol, head of the Party United Front Department responsible for inter-Korean matters, was absent from the list of department heads, indicating he was replaced.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.