Evaluation and Prospects of the 8th plenary session of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea

Eun-ju Choi

ej0717@sejong.org​

Research Fellow

The Sejong Institute

❍ In June 2023, North Korea held the 8th plenary session of the Worker's Party of Korea Central Committee to evaluate major policies in the first half of the year and discuss policies for the second half of the year

   - The Plenary session will discuss and evaluate 6 major principles which include ⓵major policies in 2023, ⓶measures to develop education projects, ⓷strengthening the role of senior officials of the People's Committee, ⓸strengthening people's sovereignty, ⓹concreting the party discipline and ⓺Structural problems in human resources

❍ Despite Kim Jong-un's attendance at the plenary session, all parliamentary and related remarks were not disclosed to the press, and important parliamentary matters were announced under the name of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Party.

   - There is a possibility that the plenary session held in June had an internal evaluation of the annual project and that there was no remarkable achievement or policy change, resulting in Kim Jong-un's non-speech during the session.

❍ Overall, the evaluation in the first half of the year was positive, but in the case of the economy, specific results were less than in previous years, and in the defense project, the meeting was conducted with more focus on future tasks rather than current achievements, after the failure to launch military reconnaissance satellites

   - The Head of the party's economic policy was replaced to renew its economic project in the second half of the year and focused on preparing follow-up measures such as holding an expanded meeting of the Cabinet Party Committee immediately after the party's central committee plenary session

   - However, the economic performance of the first half of the year, which was not revealed at the plenary session, was disclosed through media reports afterward 

❍ For foreign policy, North Korea's diplomatic activities, which had been suspended since COVID-19, are expected to resume by maintaining the existing policy of strengthening military power under the principle of 'action-to-action' but also following political-diplomatic actions with amicable nations.

   - Seen from the recent refusal of Jeong-eun Hyun's entry to the country, it is likely to hold the current policy toward South Korea but also promote the high-level personnel exchanges with China by attending the XIX Asian Games Hángzhōu 2022.

❍ Despite the possibility of North Korea's resumption of foreign relations, inter-Korean relations are likely to maintain at the current status, so it is necessary to maintain stable crisis management and continuous understanding of the situation of North Koreans

   - Crisis management measures must be sought to prevent the worsening scenario in the current inter-Korean relations, and continuous monitoring of the current status of North Korea's livelihoods, including the situation of vulnerable groups in North Korea, over the past three years.​