Workers’ Orgs to Hold Conferences in May and June

National headquarters of the Kim Il Sung Youth League (L) and the Korea Democratic Women’s Union (R) in Pyongyang (Photo: Google image)

DPRK state media reported on 4 May (Friday) that the four major Workers’ Organizations will hold membership conferences “from late May to early June.”  KCNA reports:

Conferences of the Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League, the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea, the Union of Agricultural Workers of Korea and the Democratic Women’s Union of Korea are to be held here from late May to early June.

Discussed there will be the tasks of the working people’s organisations to hold in high esteem President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il as eternal leaders of the Party and revolution, carry through the decision of the Fourth Conference of the Workers’ Party of Korea and build a thriving socialist nation under the guidance of the dear respected Kim Jong Un.

It is not clear if the Workers’ Organizations’ conferences are linked to another large gathering in Pyongyang connected to boosting the country’s food supply.  Good Friends reported on its website on 2 May (Wednesday) that “the new leadership decided to hold a homeland meeting in Pyongyang early in May with the intent of preparing measures to resolve the problem of food shortages.  Three to four functionaries of related fields from each county, and even larger numbers from each city are continuing to gather in Pyongyang. . .the scale is second only to the party representatives’ conference held on 11 April.”  Good Friends also reported that Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n), “personally ordered the meeting to be held, saying that good methods of food production should be sought fundamentally.”

AFP reports:

North Korean officials from across the country will meet in Pyongyang this month to discuss ways to boost agriculture in the food-scarce nation, a Seoul aid group said on Thursday.

The ‘Homeland Conference’ will focus on ways to expand farmland in the mountainous nation by cultivating rugged areas and inactive land, Good Friends said on its website.

The meeting will draw hundreds of people including central and local government officials, ruling communist party officials and other state agencies, making it as large as a party meeting last month, the aid group said.

Seoul’s unification ministry could not immediately confirm the reported meeting, for which the aid group gave no date.

The North suffered a famine which killed hundreds of thousands in the 1990s and severe food shortages continue. UN agencies said last November that three million people would need food aid this year and child malnutrition was rising.

Good Friends said the Pyongyang meeting would also consider a chronic workforce shortage in agriculture.

Many collectivised farms suffer high rates of absenteeism as farmers roam in search of roots and wild greens to compensate for grain shortages, it said.

People’s Security Delegation Visits China

A delegation of the Ministry of People’s Security [MPS] visited China from 26 April to 1 May (Tuesday).  The delegation was led by Major General Ri Song Chol (Ri So’ng-ch’o'l), MPS councilor and director of the MPS Foreign Affairs Bureau.  The primary reason for Ri’s visit was not clear and may have been arranged when Korean Workers’ Party [KWP] International Secretary Kim Yong Il visited Beijing late last month for a DPRK-PRC strategic dialogue.

On 27 April (Friday), Maj. Gen. Ri met with Chinese Vice Minister of Public Security Meng Hongwei.  The two were last reported to have met in June 2011.  According to Renmin Gongan Bao, Meng told Ri, “Since February 2011 when State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu visited the DPRK, China and the DPRK have further developed their cooperation in law enforcement and security thanks to the concerted efforts of both sides. It is hoped that the two sides would further implement the consensus on cooperation reached between the responsible officials of the law-enforcement departments of the two countries, continue strengthening high-level exchanges and work cooperation, and lead the friendly cooperation between the two sides to a pragmatic, mutual-beneficial, and win-win development.”  Ri was described as “totally” agreeing with Meng’s remarks.

Ri’s visit to Beijing occurred on the same day two members of the Border Security Command were repatriated back to the DPRK, after escaping to China.  Daily NK reported that after an alleged bureaucratic migration, two BSC service members shot and killed several members of their unit near Hyesan, Yanggang Province.  The two guards escaped into China and were apprehended on 27 April.

U Tong Chuk Standing in the Shadows?

Gen. U Tong Chuk (first row, R) attends a national report meeting on Kim Jong Il's birthday in Feburary 2012 (Photo: KCNA)

South Korean media, citing an anonymous source, reports that the Ministry of State Security’s [MSS] Gen. U Tong Chuk (U To’ng-ch’uk) may have been removed from office.  Gen. U was neither reported nor observed to have attended any of the public events or celebrations of the centenary of Kim Il Sung’s birth last week.  Based on reported personnel lists from the 5th session of the 12th Supreme People’s Assembly [SPA], Gen. U was removed as a member of the National Defense Commission [NDC].  It is not clear if Gen. U was among the Korean Workers’ Party [KWP] Political Bureau members and alternates who were “recalled” during the 4th Party Conference on 11 April.  U Tong Chuk’s last reported public activities occurred during late March when he attended or participated in several events ending the 100-day mourning period for Kim Jong Il.

Yonhap reports:

U Tong-chuk, first deputy head of the State Security Ministry, has been absent from state media coverage since late last month when he accompanied Kim to a mausoleum in Pyongyang to pay respects to Kim’s late father, long-time leader Kim Jong-il who died in December.

U was one of the seven top officials who walked with Kim Jong-un beside the hearse carrying the body of Kim Jong-il during the funeral procession in Pyongyang on Dec. 28.

The senior intelligence official and the seven others were believed to be confidants and advisers as Kim Jong-un took the reins of the country after his father’s demise.

The young leader seems to have purged U as he assumes his father’s key posts in the ruling Workers’ Party, military and the government in a series of political events aimed at consolidating his power.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported last week that Kim Won-hong was appointed as State Security Minister in April, taking up U’s position.

It is not clear whether U has been dismissed from his post or executed.

A South Korean official, who closely monitors North Korean affairs, said the reported purge has yet to be confirmed. He asked not to be identified, citing policy.

The North has a track record of purging or executing senior officials.

Last year, North Korea apparently removed Ryu Kyong, another senior intelligence official, according to South Korean officials and local media.

Historically, the only way out as the leading official of State Security has been death–execution, suicide or even natural causes (such as the last known minister Ri Chun Su from a heart attack in 1987).  There have been no reports, or even rumors, that Gen. U has been executed.

U Tong Chuk is closely tied to Kim Jong Un’s succession.  Given his background, he was most likely placed as a transitional figure within the central leadership.  He opened foreign intelligence and diplomatic channels, oversaw systemic reorganization of DPRK security agencies and assets and performed the aggressive acts necessary to consolidate the positions of KJU and other senior officials such as VMar Kim Jong Gak and VMar Choe Ryong Hae.

Gen. Kim Won Hong (R) attends aan aviation display and inspection with Kim Jong Un in 2012 (Photo: KCNA)

According to several sources, Gen. U was promoted to Minister of State Security during the autumn of 2011.  However, in publishing biographical profiles on members of the Political Bureau on 12 April 2012, DPRK state media identified Gen. Kim Won Hong as having been appointed minister in April 2012.  DPRK media never identified Gen. U as minister, suggesting that even if he was promoted it was on interim basis.  Both Gen. Kim and Gen. U appeared on the same Korean People’s Army [KPA] promotions list in April 2009 when U was promoted to 3-star Colonel General (sangjang) and Kim promoted to 4-star General (tangjang).  Also, during 2009, Chosun Ilbo reported that Kim Won Hong was replaced as head of the Military Security Command [MSC] by Col. Gen. Jo Kyong Chol (Cho Kyo’ng-ch’o'l).

Gen. U (annotated) talks with KWP Secretary Kim Ki Nam during Kim Jong Il's May 2009 visit to the training center for the command element of KPA Unit #10215 (Photo: KCNA)

Gen. U attends a concert by the U'nhasu Orchestra in October 2011 (Photo: KCNA)

During 2009 and 2010, U Tong Chuk became State Security’s public face and acted as its chief functionary, while Kim Won Hong appeared to continue to discharge the functions of MSC chief.    U’s status was gradually enhanced as he was promoted to General in April 2010 and elected as an alternate to the Political Bureau and CMC in September 2010.  In 2010 and 2011 Gen. U supervised investigative activities which resulted in a number of officials and cadres being dismissed from office, incarcerated or executed.  In 2011 Gen. U led a major personnel housecleaning at State Security, which resulted in the removal of dozens of domestic managers and operatives.  U also supervised the relocation of several intelligence branch offices outside the DPRK.    As Kim Jong Il’s health eroded during 2011, Gen. U was well-positioned to tie up any loose ends before and after KJI passed away.  Gen. U was identified as one of the “death angels” involved in the dismissals and executions of officials in the Ministry of People’s Armed Forces and KPA General Staff.

As reports of these purges began to appear in March 2012, Gen. U withdrew to the shadows.  The question Pyongyang watchers might ask is whether Gen. U inadvertently had the wrong cadre clipped or if it was always intended for him to make his public position untenable.

Rocket on Launch Pad

Officials of the Korea Committee for Space Technology [KCST] have placed the U’nha-3 carrier rocket on its launch pad at the Sohae Launch Facility in Tongch’ang-ri, Ch’o'lsan County, North P’yo’ngan Province.  U’nha-3 was unveiled to visiting foreign media, along with what was said to be the Kwangmyo’ngso’ng-3 satellite [KMS-3].  Xinhua reports:

The rocket for Pyongyang’s planned satellite launch later this month has been installed on the launch pad, Xinhua correspondents saw at the launch site Sunday.

A official said at the scene that the Unha-3 rocket, which is slated to blast off during the April 12-16 window and send an “earth observation” satellite into space, is yet to be fuelled.

Xinhua was among the foreign media invited to visit the launching station, control and command center and some other places.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) announced last month its plan to launch the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite to mark the 100th birthday of late leader Kim Il Sung, which has triggered global concerns.

Daily Yomiuri reports:

The injection of liquid fuel will start after the second- and third-stage units are assembled, the sources said.

Despite strong opposition by Japan, the United States, South Korea and other countries to the plan, the latest development shows North Korea has entered the final stage of preparations for the launch.

The setting up of the first-stage booster was confirmed by analysis of data from a U.S. reconnaissance satellite.

According to the sources, the first-stage booster was assembled vertically on the launchpad, which is about 50 meters high, at the new missile base in Tongchang-ri completed last year.

U.S. and South Korean authorities believe the second- and third-stage units will be set up by early this week, followed by the injection of liquid fuel from an underground facility.

The liquid fuel used by North Korea is said to be highly corrosive, making it difficult to store in a fuel tank for a long time after its injection, according to military experts. For this reason, the fuel will be injected a few days before the launch.

“No delays have been seen thus far, from the transportation of the missile body to the base to its assembly. We believe the launch will be carried out as announced,” a source said.

North Korea announced it will launch the rocket in the period from April 12 to 16.

Starting Wednesday, North Korea is scheduled to hold a series of political events, including a representatives’ meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea. During this meeting, the North’s new leader, Kim Jong Un, is expected to assume the hermetic country’s highest posts, such as the general secretary of the party.

Another diplomatic source said North Korea will “fire the missile by April 15, [to celebrate the] 100th [anniversary of the] birthday of late President Kim Il Sung…and the completion of the power succession.”

Meanwhile, the launch of the U’nha-3 and Kwangmyo’ngso’ng-3 satellite may not be the only test carried out by the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP) Central Committee’s Machine-Building Industry Department and its subordinate organizations, the Second Economy Commission and Second Natural Sciences Academy.  South Korean officials say that ongoing excavation and construction activities near P’unggye-ri, Kilchu County, North Hamgyo’ng Province suggest the DPRK may conduct a third underground nuclear detonation, likely HEU.  Yonhap reports:

Satellite images show the communist nation digging a new tunnel underground in the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the country’s northeast, where it conducted two previous nuclear tests, first in 2006 and then in 2009.

The construction is believed to be in its final stage, the official said.

“North Korea is making clandestine preparations for a third nuclear test at Punggye-ri in North Hamkyong Province, where it conducted two nuclear tests in the past,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

Commercial satellite imagery showed piles of earth and sand at the entrance of a tunnel in the Punggye-ri site. The soil is believed to have been brought to the site to plug the tunnel, one of final steps before carrying out a nuclear test blast.

A nuclear test following a long-range missile test fits the pattern of North Korean behavior.

In 2006, the provocative regime carried out its first-ever nuclear test, three months after the test-firing of its long-range Taepodong-2 rocket. The second nuclear test in 2009 came just one month after a long-range rocket launch.

The North says it will fire off its Unha-3 long-range rocket between April 12-16 to put what it claims is a satellite into orbit. But regional powers believe the launch is a pretext to disguise a ballistic missile test banned under a U.N. Security Council resolution.

Sources said the North is believed to have put the rocket on a launch pad in the country’s northwest on Friday.

The North’s nuclear and missile programs have long been a regional security concern. The country is believed to have advanced ballistic missile technology, though it is still not clear whether it has mastered the technology to put a nuclear warhead on a missile.

People’s Security Holds Loyalty Rally

Minister of People's Security Gen. Ri Myong Su gives the keynote speech at a rally of MPS and KPISF personnel. Seen behind him, L, is Col. Gen. Ri P'yo'ng-sam, head of the MPS/KPISF Political Bureau (Photo: KCNA)

The Ministry of People’s Security [MPS] and the Korean People’s Internal Security Forces held a loyalty rally Tuesday (3 April) on the campus of the MPS’ national headquarters in northern Pyongyang.  The DPRK central leadership will need all the police and public safety personnel in the coming weeks with the 4th Party Conference on 11 April, the 5th session of the 12th Supreme People’s Assembly [SPA] on 13 April and a military parade scheduled for 15 April.  KCNA reports:

Present there were Ri Myong Su, minister of People’s Security, Ri Pyong Sam, director of the Political Bureau of the KPISF, officials of the ministry, people’s security personnel and service personnel of the KPISF.

Led by the minister, its participants made a solemn pledge to hold Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in high esteem for all ages as the sun of juche, sun of songun, successfully carry out the behests of peerlessly great men and remain faithful to the songun revolutionary leadership of Kim Jong Un.

They said that they will consolidate Pyongyang and the whole country as a fortress for defending the leader, holding aloft the slogan “Let us defend the Party C.C. headed by the dear respected Kim Jong Un with our lives!” They determined to push ahead with the construction of major projects and undertake more good work for the people, aware of the mission and duty as protectors of their lives and properties and thus contribute to bringing the Party’s plan for building a thriving nation into full bloom.

Personnel of the Ministry of People's Security and Korean People's Internal Security Force assemble in front of the Kim Il-so'ng statue at MPS headquarters. At the left in the background is the Ponghwa Art Theater (Photo: KCNA)

MPS and KPISF personnel gesture during a loyalty rally (Photo: KCNA)

Ministry of People's Security/KPISF Headquarters (Photo: Google image)

Gas Up the KMS-3

Commemorative postage stamp of the Kwangmyo'ngso'ng-2/U'nha-2 launch in April 2009 (Photo: KCNA)

Technicians from the Korea Committee for Space Technology [KCST] continue preparations for the launch of the U’nha-3 carrier rocket which will reportedly carry payload, Kwangmyo’ngso’ng-3 [KMS-3] satellite.  38 North provides a detailed image analysis of the ongoing activities at Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Tongch’ang-ri, North P’yo’ngan Province:

Launch pad preparation seems to be progressing on schedule with fuel and oxidizer being delivered to the storage buildings for the Unha-3’s first stage. The next step will be the movement of the first stage to the pad—probably on March 30 or 31—followed by the second stage a day or two later. The third stage and payload will follow probably by April 2 or 3. Several other major events will take place after the Unha-3 is completely assembled. Unless some major setback occurs, the North Koreans will be able to launch during the declared launch window starting April 12, 2012.

Complementing the piece, image analysis expert Nick Hansen produced a timeline on U’nha-3′s launch preparations and the DPRK’s previous rocket (ICBM) launches:

It is no secret that North Korea plans to launch a satellite in a window between April 12-16, 2012 to coincide with the 100th birthday of Kim Il Sung, the founder of the country. It also plans to use an Unha-3 booster rocket launched from a new space port (Sohae Satellite Launching Station, a.k.a. Tongchang-dong Space Launch Center). The real secret is how North Korea plans to accomplish this task in the nearly three weeks left before the announced launch window. To provide some context on a probable timeline, this article briefly discusses the observed activities leading up to the Unha launch on July 4, 2006 and the Unha-2 launch on April 5, 2009, both from its old Tonghae Test Center.

Commercial imagery and open source reporting has shown that the launch campaigns of both 2006 and 2009 from Tonghae took about 2.25 months. Therefore, if the North Koreans are following anything like their previous schedule, the new campaign should be well underway. Imagery as of March 29, 2012, indicates that preparations have indeed begun. If a launch is really planned, it can be assumed that the Unha-3 and the satellite Kwangmyongsong-3, identified as an earth resources mission, will soon be inside the assembly building.

AFP reports:

North Korea has begun fuelling a rocket for a launch that the West considers a missile test, a Japanese newspaper reported on Thursday, citing a source “close to the government” in Pyongyang.

“The launch is coming closer. The possibility is high that the launch date will be set for April 12 or 13,” the source said according to the Tokyo Shimbun in a report from Seoul.

It cited the source as saying that North Korea had begun injecting liquid fuel into the rocket.

The paper also said a diplomatic source had confirmed that North Korea has moved the rocket to a launch pad in Tongchang-ri in the country’s far northwest.

The report came after North Korea insisted Tuesday it would go ahead with what it says is a satellite launch, snubbing a call from US President Barack Obama to drop the plan and accusing him of a “confrontational mindset”.

DPRK media interviewed a deputy (vice) director of the KCST’s Space Development Department who provided a general explanation about the satellite, its equipment and the official motivation for the launch.  KCNA reports:

There were questions about the data of the working satellite to be launched on the occasion of the significant Day of the Sun and the visits by foreign experts and reporters.

Question: What is the mission of Kwangmyongsong-3, first working satellite in the DPRK?

Answer: Kwangmyongsong-3 as an earth observation satellite will assess the distribution of forests and natural resources of the DPRK, the level of natural disaster, the crop estimate, etc. and collect data necessary for weather forecast, natural resources prospecting and others.

Q: What is its capacity?

A: Kwangmyongsong-3 has video camera mounted on it and will send observation data including pictures to the General Satellite Control and Command Centre.

It weighs 100kg and will circle along the solar synchronous orbit at 500km high altitude. Its life is two years.

Q: The DPRK invited foreign experts and reporters to the satellite launch. What can they observe?

A: They will go to the Sohae Satellite Launching Station to witness carrier rocket Unha-3 on the launching pad and Kwangmyongsong-3. They will watch the preparation for the launch of the carrier rocket with satellite on it in the General Launch Command Centre. They will also visit the General Satellite Control and Command Centre in Pyongyang and see the satellite being launched in a relevant place.

We will organize special visits going beyond the international usage to show with transparency the peaceful, scientific and technological nature of the satellite.

The U’nha-3 is not the only missile being tested on the DPRK’s west coast this spring.  South Korean media reported that on Thursday (29 March) that two KN-01 anti-ship missiles were tested.  KBS World reports:

The official said Friday that the North launched two KN-01 surface-to-ship missiles with a range of 120 kilometers from North Pyongan Province.

The official said the missile tests are not considered to be related to the North’s plan to launch a long-range rocket next month and were apparently carried out to test the missiles’ capacities. However, the official added the tests could be interpreted as the North’s protest over the recent expansion of South Korean and U.S. war vessels deployed in the Yellow Sea.

North Korea test-fired three KN-02 surface-to-surface missiles in the East Sea earlier in January and test-fired two short-range missiles off its eastern coast on December 19th last year, the day Kim Jong-il’s death was announced.

Japan’s Self Defense Forces [SDF] have been ordered to shoot down any parts of the U’nha-3 which might impact Japanese territory.  Japan will also deploy surface-to-air missiles [SAM] as the launch approaches.  Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda was the only  international leader to explicitly remark on the U’nha/KMS-3 launch during the proceedings of the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul earlier this week.

Asahi Japan Watch reports:

Pyongyang says it is planning to launch an Earth observation satellite between April 12 and 16, prompting Japan to mobilize its forces ahead of the launch. It is strongly suspected that the launch is nothing but a ruse to test a long-range ballistic missile.

On March 28, an RC-135U reconnaissance plane, designed to collect electronic intelligence, arrived at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture.

Surface-to-air Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles have already been deployed at Kadena on a permanent basis, and the Air SDF is continuing with preparations for the deployment of PAC-3 missiles in other locations around Japan. Actual deployment was to get under way from March 30.

The Maritime SDF will also deploy three Aegis-class destroyers to waters off Okinawa and in the Sea of Japan to track the rocket/missile.

The PAC-3 missiles will be deployed in three locations in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area as well as four locations in Okinawa, including the Miyakojima and Ishigakijima islands. The missiles are expected to be transported by sea from SDF bases in Tsu and Takashima, Shiga Prefecture, via Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture.

Because the North Korean missile is only expected to traverse the islands of Okinawa, there is thought to be a very low chance of any parts of it falling on Japanese territory.

Aegis-class destroyers successfully shot down ballistic missiles in three out of four tests by the MSDF. Two tests of PAC-3 missiles have also been successful.

Hideaki Kaneda, a former senior MSDF officer who is a director at the Okazaki Institute, said: “Japan has the ability to make an appropiate response against missiles similar in type to the Rodong (of North Korea).”

However, the PAC-3 missile only has a range of several dozens of kilometers for intercepting ballistic missiles. If the North Korean ballistic missile approaches Japanese airspace, it would likely herald some sort of malfunction.

Military analyst Kazuhisa Ogawa said: “If the missile starts to drop out of the sky due to a malfunction, its flight route would become unstable because of air resistance. That would make it much harder to shoot it down (with an interceptor missile).”

Another military commentator, Isaku Okabe, admitted the difficulty of shooting down a missile that had gone off course, but he said: “The route is over a large area of water, so there is a small chance that the missile will fall on land.”

Yanggang (Ryanggang) Provincial Party Secretary Kim Hui Taek (L)

Meanwhile, Daily NK citing sources in Yanggang Province, reports that Supreme People’s Assembly [SPA] deputies have been ordered to arrive in Pyongyang on or around 5 April, eight (8) days prior to the convocation of the 5th session (plenum; plenary meeting) of the 12th SPA on 13 April.  It is speculated in the article that the 4th Party Conference (Meeting of Party Representatives) might occur prior to the SPA, due to overlapping (dual) membership.  Given the scheduling of the SPA session and the projected dates of the U’nha-3 launch, the DPRK central leadership may be looking for a propulsive pretext to convene the party conference.

The unusually long eight day lead-in time appears to suggest that the 4th Chosun Workers’ Party Delegates’ Conference is going to occur sometime between the 5th and 12th, to be followed by the SPA on the 13th in order to allow all political formalities to be completed before the regime turns its attention to celebrating the 100th anniversary of Kim Il Sung’s birth on the 15th.

The exact schedule is a guessing game because although the Politburo revealed official plans to hold the 4th Delegates’ Conference “in mid-April” on February 20th, a precise date has still not been officially released.

A source from Hyesan in Yangkang Province revealed news of the order to assemble in conversation with Daily NK today, adding that “Nine people will depart from Hyesan by train on April 1st as SPA delegates, including Provincial Party Chief Secretary Kim Hi Taek, the principal of Kim Jong Suk College of Education and the low-level Party secretary from Hyesan Textile Factory.”

According to the source, “There has been no order handed down about the Delegates’ Conference, but since they have told delegates to assemble early for the SPA, the word on the street is that the Delegates’ Conference will come first.”

Many of the ‘lawmakers’ in the rubberstamp SPA are also likely to be Party delegates as well, meaning that holding the two events in very quick succession is logistically beneficial.

Delegates will travel on special trains laid on to transport people and freight on the behalf of the state. In the case of delegates from Hyesan, the train will depart from the border city before stopping at Kilju in North Hamkyung Province and passing through Kim Chaek, Simpo and Hamheung before stopping at Suncheon and Pyongsung in South Pyongan Province en route to the capital. If all goes according to plan, the journey should take 22 hours, though the April 1st departure date is a clear reflection of how power limitations can affect travel in rural North Korea.

In the meantime, Chosun Central News Agency and Rodong Shinmun have both been reporting on local conferences held to ‘elect’ delegates to the 4th Delegates’ Conference, though these are not competitive elections. So far, Kim Jong Eun has been officially adopted as a delegate by the Chosun People’s Army and the Party in South Pyongan Province and the capital, Pyongyang.

If the Supreme People’s Assembly does occur after the 4th Delegates’ Conference, Kim Jong Eun will first formally take power in the Party and then in the administrative sector, presumably becoming Chosun Workers’ Party chief secretary and chairman of the Central Military Committee before then becoming head of state.

Kim Jong Un Elected to Party Conference by Military

Members of the KPA Party Committee applaud during its party conference on 26 March 2012 at the 25 April House of Culture in Pyongyang. The party conference was convened to elect delegates (party representatives) to the 4th Korean Workers' Party Conference in the middle of April 2012. (Photo: KCNA)

The Korean People’s Army [KPA] party organization held its party conference on Monday (26 March) at the 25 April House of Culture.  During the proceedings, it nominated and elected Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n) as a delegate (party representative) to the 4th Party Conference scheduled for an undetermined date in the middle of April.  KCNA reports:

Present there were delegates elected at the party organizations of the KPA units at all levels. The delegates paid silent tribute to leader Kim Jong Il. The presidium was elected there. The conference discussed the election of delegates to the WPK Conference.

Kim Jong Gak, first vice-director of the General Political Bureau of the KPA, made an address on electing Supreme Commander Kim Jong Un as a delegate to the WPK Conference.

The WPK Conference to be held in the significant year, the centenary of the birth of President Kim Il Sung and the 70th birth anniversary of Kim Jong Il, is a historic assembly powerfully demonstrating the revolutionary will of the WPK, the army and people of the DPRK to accomplish the songun revolutionary cause of juche under the leadership of Kim Jong Un generation after generation and is of weighty significance in ushering in a great heyday of the revolution and construction under the uplifted banner of songun, Kim Jong Gak noted, and continued: The revolutionary career and feats of Kim Jong Il who won victory after victory in the confrontation with imperialism, put the dignity of the DPRK on the highest level and laid an eternal foundation whereby Kim Il Sung’s nation can enjoy immense happiness generation after generation will always go down in the history of the country.

Led by Kim Jong Un, the WPK is now called the most militant, dynamic and iron-willed party, a revolutionary party strong in organization, unity and principle and a mother party truly serving the people, striking its roots deep into them.

It is the highest honor, the greatest event and the biggest fortune of the KPA, the pillar and main force of the songun revolution, to elect Kim Jong Un as a delegate to the WPK Conference at the current conference, reflecting the unanimous will and desire of all the service personnel.

The election of Kim Jong Un as a delegate to the WPK Conference is the service personnel’s manifestation of their absolute trust and ardent loyalty to him and a reflection of the requirements of the era for the victory of the revolutionary cause of juche and the cause of building a thriving nation which have entered a new stage development.

Noting that it is a solemn pledge made by the KPA before the era and the revolution to accomplish the cause of Kim Il Sung and the cause of Kim Jong Il with arms, Kim Jong Gak courteously proposed to elect Kim Jong Un, the heart and future of Kim Il Sung’s nation and Kim Jong Il’s Korea, as a delegate to the WPK Conference, representing the unanimous will and desire of all the service personnel.

The floor was taken by Ri Yong Ho, Kim Won Hong, Jong Myong Do and other delegates of the party organizations of the KPA units at all levels.

The speakers said that Kim Jong Un possessed of intense loyalty to Kim Jong Il, outstanding leadership ability, matchless pluck and grit and noble virtues as inborn disposition is the supreme representative of the WPK, a symbol of the dignity and glory of the country and the nation and an ever-victorious banner of the KPA and the Korean people.

They fully supported and approved the proposal on electing Kim Jong Un as a delegate to the WPK Conference.

The conference unanimously adopted a decision on electing Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader of the WPK, the state and the revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK as a delegate to the WPK Conference, reflecting the will and desire of all the service personnel.

The conference elected delegates to the WPK Conference.

During 2010, Kim Jong Il was one of the KPA’s delegates to the 3rd Party Conference.  His nomination was also proposed by VMar Kim Jong Gak (Kim Cho’ng-gak), which is part of VMar Kim’s public duties as head of the KPA General Political Department (Bureau).  Choson Ilbo has identified VMar Kim as one of the high command’s “death angels” who has supervised the terminations and demotions of dozens of KPA officers and security officials, some of whom have been executed.

VMar Kim Jong Gak (2nd R) nominated Kim Jong Un as one of the KPA's delegates to the 4th Party Conference in April 2012. VMar Kim, seen at a 25 March 2012 rally ending the 100-days of mourning Kim Jong Il's death, is allegedly leading a purge of senior and mid-level KPA officials with the assistance of the Ministry of State Security's Gen. U Tong Chuk (3rd R), in order to consolidate the authority of the country's new leadership

Personnel Changes

Rumors of the DPRK’s first post-KJI purge of senior military officials have surfaced in the South Korean press.  KBS and Chosun Ilbo reported that a deputy chief of the Korean People’s Army [KPA] General Staff was executed earlier this year for “sexual harassment.”  At about the same time a deputy (vice) minister of the People’s Armed Forces was dismissed and subsequently executed for drinking too much alcohol.  In the latter case, the deputy PAF minister was allegedly rendered into a grease spot on the wall after being hit with an 82 mm mortar round fired at close range.  VMar Kim Jong Gak (Kim Cho’ng-kak), deputy (vice) director of the KPA General Political Department, was identified as having managed the executions and dismissals.

KPA VMar Kim Jong Gak (1st row, L)

These executions were the result of an order from the central leadership to ferret out military and party officials for insufficiently demonstrating grief around Kim Jong Il’s funeral and during the mourning period.  As KJI funeral events unfolded in late December 2011, several party cadres of the Personal Secretariat also seemed to fall by the wayside.  KBS World reports:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is known to have executed or fired some military officers and government officials for committing immoral acts during the mourning period of his father Kim Jong-il.

Sources familiar with North Korean affairs say a vice chief of North Korea’s General Staff was shot to death for his involvement in a sex scandal during the morning period. He was one of six or seven vice chairmen under North Korea’s Army Chief of the General Staff, Ri Yong-ho.

A vice minister of People’s Armed Forces was apparently shot to death as well for drinking alcohol with a female official.

The source said that the dean of Kim Hyung-jik College of Education was dismissed for arriving late at the funeral for Kim Jong-il. A secretary at the Ministry of Land and Marine Transport was also fired for failing to appropriately make arrangement for condolence flowers.

The source also said that in January Kim Jong-un ordered the dismissal of anyone who failed to observe the mourning period.

Chosun Ilbo reported that several unit commanders were also executed, in addition to the two officials from the high command:

“When Kim Jong-un became North Korean leader following the mourning period for his father in late December, high-ranking military officers started disappearing,” the source said. “From information compiled over the last month, we have concluded that dozens of military officers were purged.” The source added Kim Jong-un ordered loyal officials to “get rid of” anyone caught misbehaving during the mourning period for Kim Jong-il.

But contrary to reports that an assistant chief of the Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces was put in front of a firing squad for being drunk during the mourning period, he was executed using a mortar round in line with Kim’s orders to leave “no trace of him behind, down to his hair.”

The source said the official was placed on the spot where the round would hit, and the grisly execution obliterated him.

Besides the assistant chief and an assistant chief of the General Staff Department, frontline commanders were also executed, the source said.

Kim Jong-il also purged dissenters after the death of his father Kim Il-sung in 1994. Even those caught for minor infractions were executed by a firing squad.

But Kim Jong-un’s methods appear even more brutal. A source familiar with North Korea said, “It appears that the loyalty pledged by the military did not satisfy the young leader, who is sensitive about his age.” Kim junior is 28 or 29.

The source said the drastic measures may have been proposed by Kim’s confidant Kim Jong-gak (62), the first deputy director of the General Political Bureau of the North Korean People’s Army.

Outgoing Kim Il Sung Youth League 1st Secretary Ri Yong Chol (highlighted) applauds during the national report meeting held on Kim Jong Il's birthday on 15 February 2012 (Photo: KCNA-Yonhap)

Meanwhile, Ri Yong Chol (Ri Yo’ng-ch’o'l) has been replaced as the head of the Kim Il Sung Youth League [KISYL].  Ri was replaced by Jon Yong Nam during the KISYL annual meeting which was held on Thursday (22 March).  During the fall of 2011, Ri led a KISYL delegation on an overseas excursion to the UK and Greece and in November 2011 Ri led a large KISYL delegation on a brief visit to China where they met with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping.  KCNA reports:

The 47th plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League was held in Pyongyang on Thursday.

At the meeting former First Secretary Ri Yong Chol was relieved of his post for his age reason and Jon Yong Nam was elected to the post.

DPRK Invites Journalists and Experts to Observe Kwangmyongsong-3 Launch

Kim Jong Un (C) visits the KPA Strategic Rocket Forces Command (Photo: KCNA)

The Korea Committee for Space Technology reports in DPRK media that it officially notified several relevant international organizations of its intention to launch the Kwangmyo’ngso’ng-3.  KCNA reports:

The relevant bodies of the DPRK sent necessary information to the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Maritime Organization, the International Telecommunication Union and others according to international regulations and procedures as part of the preparations for the launch of earth observation satellite Kwangmyongsong-3.

The Korean Committee for Space Technology will invite experienced foreign experts on space science and technology and journalists to visit the Sohae Satellite Launching Station, the General Satellite Control and Command Centre and other places and observe its launch.

Meanwhile, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun conveyed his country’s concerns over the launch to DPRK Ambassador to the PRC Ji Jae Ryong.  Xinhua reports:

The U.S. Defense Department warned Friday that the launch of a long-range rocket would violate a series of UN resolutions and considered it as a “destabilizing behavior” to the Asia-Pacific region.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby urged the DPRK leadership to “reconsider this decision and to conform to their obligations under those sanctions.”

“We continue to operate every day with our South Korean counterparts and we hold firmly to our alliance obligations and to security on the Korean Peninsula,” said Kirby.

He added that the Defense Department is “very comfortable with the full range of military capabilities we have at our disposal in the Asia Pacific region and in and around the Korean peninsula.”

The U.S. State Department also said the launch plan could jeopardize nascent efforts to restart nuclear negotiations with the DPRK and made it “very hard” to go forward with its planned food assistance to the DPRK.

“Were we to have the launch, it would create obviously tensions and that would make the implementation of any kind of nutritional agreement quite difficult,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, hinting that the DPRK’s latest move was “an abrogation of that agreement.”

According to a deal reached between Pyongyang and Washington in Beijing late last month, the United States agreed to provide 240,000 tons of food as aid to the DPRK in exchange for Pyongyang’s promise to impose a moratorium on nuclear tests and missile launches, and allow checks by international nuclear inspectors.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton slammed the DPRK’s launch plan as “highly provocative,” warning that such a launch would pose a threat to regional security and would also be inconsistent with the DPRK’s recent undertaking to refrain from long-range missile launches.

Clinton urged the DPRK to “adhere to its international obligations, including all relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” adding that Washington is consulting closely with its international partners on the next steps.

Meanwhile, Russia said it was also seriously concerned about Pyongyang’s rocket launch plan, urging it not to proceed with it.

Russia’s foreign ministry called on the DPRK not to oppose itself to the international community, and create additional difficulties for restarting the six-party talks on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

Moscow also said the resumption of the long-stalled talks and diplomatic solutions are the only viable option available to both terminate the nuclear problems in the region and to lift the UN sanctions against the country, which is prohibited from conducting launches that use ballistic missile technology.

However, the ministry also said Moscow had never denied the DPRK’s sovereign right to pursue peaceful space programs and urged all parties involved to exercise maximum restraint.

The DPRK’s neighboring country South Korea Friday also voiced its “serious concern” over the plan, calling it a “grave provocation threatening the peace and security” on the Korean Peninsula as well as Northeast Asia.

The South Korean foreign ministry said it would work closely with related countries, including members of the six-party talks, to urge the DPRK to “immediately stop provocative act and abide by its international obligations.”

Also on Friday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he is “seriously concerned” about the DPRK’s satellite launch.

In a statement, the UN chief called on Pyongyang to fully comply with the UN resolutions that ban any launch using ballistic missile technology.

China has also voiced its concern over the DPRK’s satellite launch plan.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun, in a meeting with the DPRK Ambassador to China Ji Jae Ryong on Friday, expressed China’s worry over the matter, according to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Zhang exchanged views with Ji on China-DPRK ties and the situation on the Korean Peninsula, said the statement.

Zhang said China had taken note of the DPRK’s satellite plan as well as the reaction from the international community. China believes it is the common obligation and in common interests of all parties concerned to maintain the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia, said the statement.

“We sincerely hope parties concerned stay calm and exercise restraint and avoid escalation of tension that may lead to a more complicated situation,” Zhang was quoted as saying.

On April 5, 2009, the DPRK conducted a similar launch, which, according to the country’s official KCNA news agency, successfully put a “Kwangmyongsong-2″ communications satellite into orbit. But some countries, including South Korea, Russia and the United States, believed the launch was a failure. The launch brought about criticism and tightened sanctions on the DPRK.

The DPRK insists its satellite launches are for peaceful and scientific purposes. The KCNA said in a report on Friday that the upcoming launch would greatly encourage the army and people of the DPRK in the building of a thriving nation and will offer an important occasion of putting the country’s technology of space use “for peaceful purposes on a higher stage.”