Ministry of Unification: "Non-disclosure of North Korea's Plenary Meeting Content is First Since Kim Jong-un's Rule"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] The Ministry of Unification on the 10th described North Korea's decision to keep the expanded meeting of the 8th Central Committee's 5th plenary session of the Workers' Party of Korea confidential as "unprecedented."

On the 10th, Deputy Spokesperson Cha Deok-cheol said at a regular briefing at the Government Seoul Office, "After North Korea announced yesterday that it convened the 8th Central Committee's 5th plenary session on the 8th, state-run media have not reported on the developments of the second day as of today," adding this assessment.

Earlier, North Korea announced on the 9th that the expanded plenary meeting of the Central Committee was convened on the 8th and that discussions on the agenda had begun. It also mentioned that Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Party and Chairman of the State Affairs Commission, presided over the first day of the meeting.

Deputy Spokesperson Cha stated, "It is understood that this is the first time since Chairman Kim Jong-un came to power that the progress of the Central Committee's plenary session has not been reported."

He added, "The government views North Korea's failure to report on the plenary session's developments differently from before as unusual and plans to closely monitor future developments."

North Korea typically holds plenary sessions lasting more than two days and reports the previous day's meeting details the following day through state-run media. During the 4th plenary session held over five days starting December 27 last year, state media reported the contents of each day’s meeting in the format of first day, second day, third day meetings, and so forth.

However, despite the 5th plenary session being convened as a large-scale expanded meeting, only a brief summary of the first day's meeting on the 8th was released the next day, and unusually, no news about the second day's meeting has been reported.

Regarding speculation that North Korea may soon conduct its 7th nuclear test, Deputy Spokesperson Cha emphasized, "South Korean and U.S. intelligence agencies are closely cooperating to meticulously track and monitor developments related to North Korea's nuclear test preparations and key facilities and areas," adding, "Based on close South Korea-U.S. cooperation, we maintain a firm readiness posture against all possibilities."

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