hankyoreh

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presides over the 4th Plenary Meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) in Pyongyang on Apr. 10. (KCNA)

On Apr. 10, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presided over the 4th Plenary Meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), during which he announced his views on the recent North Korea-US summit in Hanoi from Feb. 27 to 28. This was the first time Kim directly stated his position on the summit. Emphasizing the importance of a “self-supporting national economy” and the recovery of North Korea’s “self-reliance,” Kim said it was necessary to “deal a telling blow to hostile forces” that “focus exclusively on sanctions,” according to a Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) report on Apr. 11.

In its report on the 4th Plenary Meeting of 7th Central Committee of the WPK, the KCNA focused on the outcome of the meeting, which occurred a day earlier, and on Kim’s remarks. The report said Kim offered a “scientific analysis” of “the international landscape” and the “increasingly acute peculiarities of the geopolitical situation,” as well as the WPK’s stance on the recent North Korea-US summit.

The report also indicated that Kim “underscored the need to more vigorously advance socialist construction” via a “self-supporting national economy” suited to North Korea’s “specific local conditions,” adding that North Korea’s “efforts, technology, and resources under the uplifted banner of self-reliance” would “deal a telling blow to the hostile forces” that plan on using sanctions to “bring the DPRK to its knees.”

The KCNA report did not specify as to what the “telling blow” Kim referred to meant. Kim simply touted North Korea’s “self-supporting national economy” and “self-reliance,” reiterating that the US and the international community were “miscalculating” with “bloodshot eyes” in their assumption that sanctions would get the North to submit.

Regarding the KCNA report, the South Korean Unification Ministry told reporters on Apr. 11 that “self-reliance” and the “self-supporting national economy” are concepts that the North has been emphasizing since the 7th WPK Central Committee’s third plenary meeting on Apr. 20, 2018, adding that the report merely reaffirmed a continuation of Kim’s plan to focus all efforts on economic development.

The KCNA also revealed that the plenary meeting on Apr. 10 also discussed a proposal regarding the appointment of leaders for various government institutions, which was submitted to the first session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly the following day.

By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]