Analysis on the 7th

Congress of the Korean

Workers' Party:
Strategic Line
and Policy
2016.
2016.05.11.
5. 19. | CO 16-12
16-16
Hong Min
(Research Fellow, North Korean Studies Division)

The Advent of the Ruling System based on Nuclear Weapons

The Seventh Congress of the Korean Workers' Party (KWP) aimed to show
the emerging ruling system based on nuclear weapons at home and aborad.
Nuclear-related terms appear 29 times in total when delivering the results
of an analysis report on the work of KWP Central Committee (hereinafter
referred to as "party analysis reporting"). In other words, "nuclear force"
or "nuclear possession", linked with the greatness of the supreme leader,
the party's tradition of revolution, and the strategic line, were set as one
major keyword capturing the essence of the party analysis reporting. This
new keyword implies that North Korea without nuclear weapons is
unimaginable and that "denuclearization" nullifies the party's tradition of
Songun (military-first policy) revolution and the greatness of the great
leader. The Seventh Congress formally acknowledged the advent of the
ruling system with its basis on the permanent nuclear possession.

Byungjin Line of Economic Development and Nuclear Weapons

Building as Permanent Strategic Line

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"Strategic line" is the ultimate direction that the party needs to pursue and maintain
until the next congress takes place, encompassing the various detailed tasks. At
the 7th Congress, six strategic lines were mentioned and three of them were defined
as the "permanent strategic line": 1) Byungjin line (parallel pursuit) of economic
development and nuclear weapons building; 2) Chagangryeok (the power to survive
through its own efforts) -first policy; and 3) Songun revolutionary line. The word
"permanent" was used as a rhetorical tool to emphasize the degree of irreversibility
of each line and the strong and consistent will. The permanent strategic line was
set without the room for a change or flexibility at its source. Those lines are closely
connected with each other composing some kind of the narrative of policy. Each
line can be construed as follows: 1) Byungjin line of pursuing the economic
development and nuclear weapons building demonstrates the will to invest resources
mainly in the national defense industry for the advancement of nuclear and missile
capabilities; 2) Chagangryeok-first policy aims to instill the spirit of Charyok
Kaengsaeng (the spirit of self-reliance) and demand the act of overcoming the
hardships with all the strengths that require the internal belt-tightening and sacrifice;
3) Songun revolutionary line intends to implement the physical controlling system
and governance through the military and law enforcement agency.

Allocation of Resource Centering around the Defense Industry (Weapons

Development Project) and Economic Dualism

What should be noted in Byungjin line of economic development and nuclear weapons
building is the interconnectedness between the nuclear force (the national defense
industry and the national defense science technology) and the economy. In short,
the North suggested a strategy to make a breakthrough adopting the cutting-edge
technology in developing the national defense industry through their new major
weapons development project. "Making a breakthrough adopting the cutting-edge
technology" is indicative of the regime's will to expand the rapid development of
the national defense industrynational defense science technology into the economic

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sector to resuscitate the economy. However, the ulterior motive behind that proposal
seems as if it attempts to rationalize the continuos allocation of resources centering
around the nuclearmissile industries. In fact, there has been no sign of the
privatization of the military sector ever since the inauguration of the Kim Jong-un
regime. Rather, the disparity is deepening between the nuclearmissile related
industries directly managed by the party and the general private industries managed
by the cabinet. The concentration of resources mainly allocated in the munitions
industry has been structuralized to a large extent and Byungjin line is further
intensifying this phenomenon.

Appointment of Officials in Charge of the NuclearMissile Advancement and

Sanctions to the Main Positions at the Party

It is notable that the large number of officials in charge of the nuclearmissile

advancement and the sanctions against the North have been appointed at the Party
Central Committee. Kim Jong-un, Ri Man-gon, and Kim Young-chul have become
the members of the Political Bureau, the Political Affairs Bureau, and the Party
Central Military Commission (CMC). The decision to place the Munitions Industry
Department director, Ri Man Gon - an official responsible for the nuclearmissile
development and the subject for the sanctions imposed - at the party's forefront
position demonstrates the strategic importance and willingness of pursuing the
Byungjin line of economic development and nuclear weapons building. One should
also pay attention to the appointment of Kim Yong-chul, the director of the
Reconnaissance General Bureau, to the main position of the party. The
Reconnaissance General Bureau directed by Kim Yong-chul reportedly conducts the
various espionage, surveillance, and spying activities against the South and manages
"Bureau 121" - the representative asymmetric North Korean cyber warfare agency.
All of the reshuffling of the personnel has been in line with what Kim Jong-un
emphasized in the party analysis reporting at the 7th Congress: 1) making missile
technology more precise; 2) making the nuclear warhead lighter; 3) developing the

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unmaned aircraft; and 4) deploying the intelligence tactics, such as cyber terror.
And the officials in charge of those four areas - major modern weaponry - have
been appointed to the main positions at the very front of the party. As many as
14 Party Central Committee members and alternate members, who are engaged in
the party-military-industrial complex including the national defense industry, are
confirmed to have been placed at the party's high-ranking positions.

"Troika System" of Organization & Guidance Department, Propaganda &

Agitation Department, and the Munitions Industry Department

Regarding the change in the party's authority and organization, first, Organization
& Guidance Department (OGD) should pay attention to the newly selected officials
at the main positions of the party's apparatuses. An old member of the Party's
Organization & Guidance Department, Hwang Byeong-seo, Park Tae Sung from the
Organization & Guidance Department, and first deputy of the Organization & Central
Committee, Cho Yon-jun have been appointed at the Policy Bureau of the Party's
Central Committee. Senior deputy director of OGD, Kim Kyong Ok and Hwang
Byeong-seo have also been dispatched to the Central Military Commission. And Hong
In-bom of OGD was also selected as the chairman of the Central Inspection
Committee at the Party's Central Committee. The Organization & Guidance
Department has emerged as the most powerful organization in the North after the
execution of Jang Song-taek by absorbing the party's executive branch. The
Organization & Guidance Department inherited some of the governing authority from
the party's executive branch over the law enforcementpublic safetyjudicial
apparatuses. The party's control over the military appears to have been exerted
mainly by the Organization & Guidance Department.

Second, the role of the Propaganda & Agitation Department is also crucial with the
following major officials taking the lead: secretary of the Party's Central Committee
in charge of propaganda and director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department,

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Kim Ki-nam; first deputy of the KWP Propaganda and Agitation Department, Ri Jae
Il; vice director of the Workers Party's Propaganda and Agitation Department, Kim
Yeo-jong; and secretary of Kanggye Precision Machinery Complex and former vice
director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department, Kim Byung-ho. These officials
are reportedly in charge of setting and revising the propaganda frame on the party's
major linepolicy as well as handling the image management of Kim Jong-un at home
and abroad. They also seem to have suggested the major policy frame, such as
Chagangryeok-first policy and youth-oriented policy.

Third, the Munitions Industry Department actually executes the Byungjin policy of
economic development and nuclear weapons building, exerting its strong influence.
A lot of directors and secretaries have been selected as the members of the Party's
Central Committee, including director of the Munitions Industry Department, Ri Man
Gon, Hong Sung Mu, deputy director of the Munitions Industry Department, Hong
Yong Chil, vice director of the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces, Yoon Dong
Hyun, Pak To-chun, and the former director of the Korean Workers' Party Munitions
Industry Department, Ju Kyu-chang. In conclusion, the troika system is the very
essence of the ruling system in the Kim Jong-un regime with; 1) the Party's
Organization & Guidance Department managing the monolithic leadership system
(Suryong system); 2) Propaganda & Agitation Department setting the main policy
frame; and 3) the Munitions Industry Department pursuing the Byungjin line of
economic development and nuclear weapons building. KINU 2016
The views expressed in this paper are entirely those of the author and are not to be construed
as representing those of the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU).

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