Kim Jong-un likely to grab key titles in April

(Photo DB=Xinhua)

North Korea will convene a rare conference of its ruling Workers’ Party in April, its state media said Monday, during which analysts expect the Stalinist state will cement the power of its new leader, Kim Jong-un.

The announcement by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) of the conference, the fourth of its kind, comes after Kim was installed as leader following the death of his father Kim Jong-il late last year.

KCNA said the meeting would “glorify the sacred revolutionary life and feats” of Kim Jong-il and emphasize the North’s military-first and self-reliance policies, and “rally close” around Kim Jong-un.

Though the younger Kim has been named commander-in-chief of the nation’s 1.1 million-strong military, analysts say he still needs key posts left vacant by his father to secure full power.

“It can be expected that Kim Jong-un will take the posts of chairman of the party’s Central Military Commission and general secretary of the party, following the footsteps of his father,” Park Young-ho, an analyst with the Korea Institute for National Unification, said.

Speculation has also surrounded the position of chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission. But some including Park suspect that Kim Jong-il will continue to hold the post posthumously, much like his father, the late country founder Kim Il-sung, remains the nation’s “eternal president.”

The meeting will coincide with the North’s celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Kim Il-sung’s birth, a landmark date by which time it has proclaimed it will become a “strong and prosperous” state.

Analysts said the regime would likely use the conference to convey the message that Kim Jong-un will usher in the arrival of a prosperous era while sticking to the policies laid out by his father and grandfather.

In the most recent party conference in September 2010, the North’s largest political gathering in 44 years, Kim Jong-un emerged as heir apparent after being elevated to vice chairman of the party’s Central Military Commission and four-star general status.

Despite appearances of stability in the aftermath of his father’s fatal heart attack in December, some still wonder if factionalism could occur among the ruling elite. While Kim Jong-il had decades to consolidate power, his son is thought to have been groomed for the top job for only around three years.

Experts say Kim is being shepherded toward roles such as Workers’ Party general secretary by an entourage of close aides including his aunt Kim Kyong-hui and her powerful husband Jang Song-thaek.

While the international community continues to show keen interest in the power transition in the nuclear-armed state, the new regime has yet to show indications of its policy positions other than reiterating those promoted by Kim Jong-il. <Korea Times/Kim Young-jin>

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