Clad in a suit and accompanied by key aides, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un tours a machinery and equipment exhibition in Pyongyang in this combined image released on May 13, 2016, by the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. It marks Kim’s first public outing since the closing of the party’s congress on Monday. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
Kim Jong-un is once again making it pretty clear to the rest of the world that he has no intention to ever denuclearize:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said his country will not use nuclear weapons as long as the country’s sovereignty is not threatened and called his regime “a responsible nuclear state” at the seventh congress of the Workers’ Party in Pyongyang.
“Our republic will not use a nuclear weapon unless its sovereignty is encroached upon by any aggressive hostile forces with nukes,” Kim was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Sunday. Kim made the remark in a report on the achievements of the Workers’ Party during the congress. KCNA didn’t specify whether Kim made the remark on Friday or Saturday.
It was considered a clear rebuff to calls from the international community that he drops North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has hailed the country’s nuclear test and long-range rocket launch early this year as a success in his opening address at its first party congress in nearly four decades.
Clad in a black western-style suit and tie, Kim called the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) congress, which kicked off on Friday, a “historic landmark” for the country, according to footage aired by the communist country’s state-run TV station.
The seventh party congress, the first in 36 years, was held as the U.N. Security Council slapped tougher sanctions on Pyongyang in March over its January nuclear test and long-range rocket launch in February.
“This year, our military and people successfully carried out the first hydrogen bomb test and launched a satellite (into orbit), boosting the country’s dignity and national power,” Kim said in an opening speech, flanked by his key aides.
The party gathering is the first of its kind since October 1980 and also the first under the current leader, who assumed power in late 2011 following the sudden death of his father, Kim Jong-il. [Yonhap]
The rumor mill is circulating that Kim Jong-un is going to use his big political convention this week to promote his younger sister Kim Yo-jong to a higher level within the government. It makes sense for him considering she is trusted family and is female, thus no threat to replace him in male dominated North Korea:
Kim Yo-jong
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may promote his youngest sister to a ministerial-level post as he moves to consolidate power during the ruling party congress that begins Friday, experts say.
The 7th Workers’ Party Congress — the first in 36 years — is expected to last three days, It comes against the backdrop of rising international tensions after the North staged its fourth nuclear test in early January, followed by a long-range rocket launch and other attempted missile tests despite harsh new U.N. sanctions.
Kim has given little hint of what he plans for the congress. But the 33-year-old leader is expected to use the chance to put his stamp on power and extinguish doubts about his lack of experience and military credentials after inheriting power from his father, who died of a heart attack in late 2011.
North Korea watchers say one possibiluty would be promoting his youngest sister, Kim Yo Jong, who is one of his closest confidantes. [Stars & Stripes]
It appears to me that the Kim regime is using this likely manufactured story as a way to take shots at both the ROK and China as nations that cannot be trusted:
A source in North Korea told Japan press that North Korean soldiers crossed the border with China at Tumen to arrest two suspects planning to assassinate Kim Jong Un. Pictured: A bulldozer and truck cross a bridge into Namyang, North Korea, from Tumen, China. File photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo
At least two suspects who attempted to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were arrested, according to unconfirmed reports in the country.
The suspects had been reportedly arrested at the China border near the Tumen River as they were preparing a hit on Kim in the city of Hoeryong in North Hamgyong Province, Radio Free Asia reported Thursday.
A source in the North who spoke to Japanese news service Asia Press on the condition of anonymity said he had heard the “terrorists” had not yet crossed the Tumen, which separates North Korea from China, when North Korean border guards crossed the border to arrest them.
The source went on to say the suspects were transferred to the State Security Department, and that the border guards were given rewards – including a chance to become members of the Korean Workers’ Party.
One of the suspects is allegedly a North Korean defector from the South, but the other one or more were Chinese nationals.
Japanese journalist Jiro Ishimaru, founder of Asia Press, said it is likely a rumor that was manufactured by the state to bolster support for the party ahead of its Seventh Congress in May. [UPI via reader tip]
North Korea’s top leader Kim Jong-un (C) visits the Sinhung Machine Plant in South Hamkyong Province, north of Pyongyang, in this photo provided by the country’s ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun on April 1, 2016. The daily said Kim emphasized the plant’s role in building the country’s economic power through knowledge-based economy. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
