Reshuffling of North Korean Power Elite, 'Strengthening Internal Control'

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] North Korea has strengthened internal control through personnel changes within the power elite.

Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, has attempted to reorganize the power elite by making recent personnel changes through a plenary meeting of the Party.

Regarding the recent personnel measures within North Korea, it is observed that Ri Pyong-chol, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea, was dismissed and his position weakened as he was demoted to a candidate member of the Political Bureau.

This analysis was also raised at the recent event "North Korea Situation Briefing: Issues and Focus" hosted by the National Security Strategy Institute.

The personnel measures taken by North Korea, along with references to serious incidents, are analyzed to have been implemented to control the power elite amid complex domestic and international circumstances.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

There are predictions that a large-scale crackdown focusing on cadre revolution may take place for the time being.

Lee Sang-geun, Director of the Korean Peninsula Strategy Research Office, stated based on the fact that no additional quarantine measures such as regional lockdowns have been observed and that recent large-scale meetings in North Korea were held without masks, “It seems unlikely that the measures are due to a large number of COVID-19 confirmed cases.”

In this context, North Korea experts predict that control over the power elite within North Korea will deepen for the time being.

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