North Korea's Kim Jong-un was again elevated to the top post of party general secretary at the 9th party congress.
According to a report by the Korean Central News Agency on the 23rd, at the fourth day of the 9th party congress held the previous day, a decision to re-elect Kim as Labor Party general secretary was adopted unanimously. The North Korean Labor Party's charter stipulates that the general secretary be elected at the party congress held every five years. Kim's title was changed to chairperson at the 7th party congress in 2016 and to general secretary at the 8th party congress in 2021.
North Korea put forward the strengthening of its nuclear force as the main rationale for re-electing the general secretary. The related decision letter said Kim had dramatically enhanced war deterrence centered on nuclear forces.
Party secretary Ri Il-hwan, in a proposal related to the general secretary election, said, "An era has arrived in which there is no need to discuss whether defense or the economy should come first," and emphasized that they had "put a complete end to the very misguided attempts by hostile forces at annihilation or subjugation."
He said, "All manner of threats and sanctions no longer work on us, and even our adversaries know—and the world recognizes—that we have become a dangerous counterpart that must not be tampered with," noting that the world's view of North Korea had changed and that this was the "pinnacle of self-respect and self-reliance" and the "great summation of the work of the 8th Central Committee."
A decision letter to amend the party charter was also adopted at the meeting. It included codifying as a permanent line the "five major party-building lines for a new era" presented by Kim in 2022 and establishing the party center's monolithic leadership system. However, whether expressions related to unification and the nation were deleted from the existing charter or whether an "adversarial two-state line" was codified was not disclosed.
Changes in the attire of speakers in the hall were also observed. Kim wore a badge with portraits of the predecessors (Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il), while other speakers wore a badge with only a portrait of Kim Jong-un.
Meanwhile, discussions by officials including Cabinet Vice Premier Kim Jung-kwan continued regarding Kim's "report on the summary of work," which proceeded through the 21st, but specific policy details were not reported. The agenda is expected to be adopted and made public later as a party congress decision letter after sector-by-sector consultations and review by the Political Bureau.
Meanwhile, in the election of the party's central leadership bodies, Choe Ryong Hae, a representative elder figure in North Korea and a "second-generation partisan," who is chair of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, was excluded from the list of central committee members. Among military figures, party secretary Park Jung-chon and Ri Pyong Chol, senior adviser in charge of munitions policy, were also dropped from the central committee, indicating a large-scale second-line retreat by the elder group.