"Lost Confidence?"... Why North Korea's Kim Jong-un Skipped the Plenary Meeting Speech

Kim Jong-un's Unreported Unusual Speech... Three Times So Far
Ministry of Unification "Mentions Countermeasures but No Achievements to Present"
North Korea Likely to Continue Military Provocations While Shifting Responsibility Externally

North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un's speech at the Workers' Party plenary meeting was unusually not disclosed, drawing attention to the background. The government evaluated that North Korea, while mentioning a countermeasure against the hardline stance toward South Korea and packaging regime achievements, showed a lack of confidence.

Ku Byung-sam, spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification, said at a regular briefing held at the Government Seoul Office Building on the 19th, "It is practically the first time that Chairman Kim Jong-un did not give a speech at the Party plenary meeting, meaning it was not reported," and added, "This situation itself is indeed very unusual." He also said, "It is difficult to precisely predict the reason why he did not speak directly, but it is presumed that it was difficult for him to step forward because the satellite launch failed and there were no achievements to boast of in various areas, including the economic sector."

Goo Byung-sam, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Unification

On that day, North Korean state media, including the Korean Central News Agency, simultaneously reported on the report of the 8th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party, held from the 16th to the previous day. Although it was stated that Chairman Kim attended, none of his speeches or major remarks were mentioned. It is unclear whether Kim Jong-un did not give a speech at all or if it was simply not disclosed, but the fact that it was not reported domestically or internationally is unusual.

Among the 15 plenary meetings held since Kim Jong-un came to power, there were only three occasions when speeches were not reported. First, during the 7th term 1st plenary meeting (May 2016) and the 8th term 1st plenary meeting (January 2021), which overlapped with the Party Congress, no speech transcripts were reported. At that time, authorities judged that since speeches had already been given at the Party Congress, the plenary meeting speeches were omitted. At the 7th term 6th plenary meeting (August 2020), only the agenda for convening the Party Congress was handled, and the meeting was immediately adjourned.

Unlike this plenary meeting, in previous cases where speech reports were absent, Kim Jong-un's instructions and remarks were later introduced through state media. North Korea recently criticized officials for the failure of the 'military reconnaissance satellite' launch on the 31st of last month, calling it "the most serious defect," and the government speculates that this poor performance led to the omission of Kim Jong-un's speech.

North Korea: "Satellite failure is the fault of officials...Worsening situation blamed on South Korea and the U.S."

North Korea Holds Expanded Meeting of the 8th Plenary Session

The Ministry of Unification gave an overall assessment of North Korea's recent Party plenary meeting results as a "lack of confidence." Since North Korea maintains its existing hardline stance while threatening countermeasures externally, it is expected that provocations will continue in the second half of the year. A Ministry of Unification official pointed out, "The absence of Kim Jong-un's speech in the report and the tendency to attribute difficulties to external or lower-level units suggest that the implementation of the 'five-year plan' is sluggish and confidence in making up for it is declining."

Specifically, in the state media reports on that day, North Korea highlighted previously emphasized goals such as ▲achieving irrigation construction targets and ▲housing construction as economic and social sector achievements, but did not mention any notable new accomplishments. Although it claimed that early-year instability was overcome and growth rates increased, the mention of problems such as 'defects and evils' and 'lack of discipline' without concrete achievements suggests that the originally planned goals were not met, according to the Ministry of Unification's evaluation.

In the military and external sectors, North Korea appeared to blame the failure of the military reconnaissance satellite launch on the working-level personnel and announced plans to "submit an organizational structure for the space industry to the Supreme People's Assembly." It is expected that there will be a reorganization expanding the organization and functions of the National Space Development Bureau under the Cabinet while pushing for a re-launch of the reconnaissance satellite. Furthermore, as North Korea blamed South Korea and the U.S. for the worsening situation and emphasized the principle of "action for action," it is anticipated that military provocations based on the nuclear force enhancement line will continue in the second half of the year.

Regarding personnel changes, "minor" adjustments were observed. Kim Yong-chol, a "hardliner toward South Korea" who once introduced himself as "the main culprit of the Cheonan sinking," returned as a candidate member of the Party Central Committee Political Bureau. His title is "Advisor to the United Front Department." Also, Oh Su-yong, economic secretary and economic department head, re-entered as a member of the Political Bureau. Ku Byung-sam, spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification, evaluated, "Oh Su-yong is a practical bureaucrat who has held key positions in the economic sector, and it seems he was reappointed to overcome the current sluggish economic performance."

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