North Korea Quiet Despite Announced Plenary Meeting... Is It Due to Satellite Failure?

After Announcing the Plenary Meeting Schedule, 'Reconnaissance Satellite' Crash
Missed Major Propaganda Opportunity Ahead of Political Anniversary
"Propaganda Focused on Economy... Residents Likely to Strengthen Unity"

There are observations that the failure of North Korea's launch of a space launch vehicle, which it claimed to be a military reconnaissance satellite, may have repercussions on the Party plenary meeting scheduled for early this month. Since the launch vehicle, which was showcased to the international community, crashed, it is evaluated that there will be no significant achievements to boast about at the plenary meeting.

According to relevant authorities on the 15th, North Korea announced on the 30th of last month that it would hold the 8th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Party Central Committee in early June. The period North Korea considers as early is from the 1st to the 15th of each month, and the 30th was the last day of that period. However, North Korean state media such as the Korean Central News Agency and Rodong Sinmun have not reported any news related to the plenary meeting until the morning of that day.

Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea

Some speculate that since the space launch vehicle launched on the 31st of last month, right after North Korea announced the plenary meeting schedule, crashed, there might be repercussions. Kim Jong-un's 'No. 1 directive project' failed conspicuously, causing a serious loss of face. If it had succeeded, there would have been a grand propaganda campaign at the plenary meeting followed by a grand celebration of the 'Victory Day' on the 27th of next month, marking the 70th anniversary, but this opportunity was missed.

Moon Sung-mook, head of the Unification Strategy Center at the Korea Institute for National Strategy, said, "It is cautious to make assumptions, but from Kim Jong-un's perspective, he was likely envisioning the best-case scenario of a successful satellite launch followed by consecutive plenary meetings, but this plan has been disrupted," and assessed that the North Korean leadership's inner feelings are complicated.

There is also the possibility of a 'blackout' strategy to increase attention. This means not disclosing the fact of the meeting until the end and then reporting comprehensively, a tactic North Korea sometimes uses to attract attention. North Korea also did not report any news related to the Supreme People's Assembly for three days until the meeting ended in February last year. However, at that time, Chairman Kim Jong-un did not attend the meeting.

Timing to Boost Morale... Likely to Focus on Economic Propaganda

Statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il in North Korea

June is the time to settle the first half of the year's work and review tasks for the second half, so the possibility of the Party plenary meeting being completely canceled is low. If the plenary meeting is held as scheduled, it will be the third time in six months following last December and February this year. Considering that Party plenary meetings have usually been held once or twice a year, this is quite unusual. There is also pressure to show noticeable results to the people in the third year of the 'Five-Year Economic Development Plan.'

To stabilize public sentiment shaken by food shortages, it is expected that economic achievements will be emphasized rather than defense sector projects. When announcing this schedule, North Korea stated, "During the first half of the year, we will summarize and take measures on the work patterns of Party and state administrative organs and the implementation status of the people's economy plan, and discuss policy issues of important significance for revolutionary development." This indicates that economic issues will be the main agenda.

Center head Moon Sung-mook predicted, "They will focus on promoting economic achievements, but it is questionable whether such achievements exist. Since the most difficult and important task is grain production, it is more likely that they will focus on boosting morale and strengthening internal unity rather than excessive propaganda." Regarding the reconnaissance satellite, which North Korea has announced will be relaunched soon, he anticipated, "Rather than specifics, they may express the will to relaunch."

Meanwhile, the Workers' Party organ Rodong Sinmun tightened discipline among cadres on the same day. The newspaper wrote, "While some units have vigorously advanced at the forefront of the struggle to capture 12 important positions for the development of the people's economy, there are also units that have not taken big steps due to being trapped by objective conditions." This is interpreted as an intention to urge cadres to encourage the masses for self-reliance amid overlapping sanctions and border closures.

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