North Korea said on Wednesday a campaign was helping to cut the number of smokers, although its leader Kim Jong Un is frequently seen with a cigarette in hand in photographs in state media.
Advertisement
“There is a possibility that the North could conduct an additional nuclear test and fire off a mid- or long-range missile around the party congress”.
This time, the “supreme leader”, 33, is expected to further solidify his power, declare the nation a nuclear state, and reveal his plans for North Korea’s economy to thousands of delegates expected to attend.
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) – North Korea stepped up its calls Tuesday for South Korea to return 12 waitresses whom Pyongyang says Seoul abducted from a restaurant in China.
Photos from April 28 show signs of sparse activity at the North’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site, but it’s hard to tell whether that work is related to an imminent detonation or ongoing maintenance, said 38 North, a website run by Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies that monitors North Korean activities.
Kim Il Sung, the founding father of North Korea (and its “eternal president” today, 22 years after his death) was very much a party man, emphasising the party and “juche”, or self-reliance – above all else.
Defector-run news websites in Seoul, with sources in the North, say there has been a tightening of security around Pyongyang in recent weeks, with strict controls on movement in and out of the capital.
Some observers believe Kim Jong Un will use the congress to confirm the completion of North Korea’s nuclear deterrent and announce a switch in focus towards economic development.
The UN Security Council has strongly condemned North Korea’s test-firing of a missile, saying that the launch violated UN resolutions even if it was a failure.
However numerous test missiles have plunged into the sea in failure. Not a big surprise, considering they haven’t held a party congress since 1980, when Kim Jong-un’s father, Kim Jong-il, was officially made leader.
Advertisement
“It is now his era, and the elders have passed away, and the idea will be that if he remains first secretary, then he might think he won’t get enough respect because of that”, said An Chan-il, a former North Korean military official who now heads a think tank in Seoul.
