North Korea's 'Serious Incident': The Core Issue Is Not Quarantine but 'Cadre Discipline'

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] North Korea's mention of a 'serious emergency epidemic incident' at last month's Workers' Party Political Bureau expanded meeting is analyzed to be more related to cadre discipline issues than COVID-19 epidemic prevention.

Jo Han-beom, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, stated on the 7th in an online series titled "Signs of Crisis in North Korea and Entrance Strategy for the Korean Peninsula Peace Process," “In the June 30th Rodong Sinmun article reporting on this Political Bureau expanded meeting, 'epidemic prevention' was mentioned only 3 times, whereas 'cadres' were mentioned as many as 39 times.”

He further explained, “The emergency epidemic prevention issue, which was pointed out as the cause of the serious incident, was barely addressed, while the irresponsible and incompetent behavior of cadres?such as dereliction of duty, self-preservationism and passivity, and mistakes negatively affecting the stability of people's lives and overall economic construction?was heavily criticized.”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Jo emphasized, “Ultimately, the essence of the serious incident is a cadre problem, not an emergency epidemic prevention issue.”

Previously, on the 29th of last month, General Secretary Kim Jong-un criticized the incompetence of high-ranking cadres at the Political Bureau expanded meeting and dismissed members of the Party Central Committee Political Bureau Standing Committee and Political Bureau members, raising the possibility of further purges.

He also condemned that the 'serious incident' occurred due to the 'taegong' (deliberate negligence) of responsible cadres in executing emergency epidemic prevention policies.

Jo analyzed, “At this Political Bureau expanded meeting, the decision to 'thoroughly review and investigate the problematic personnel politically and legally and decide appropriate measures' indicates the possibility of subsequent disciplinary actions or purges,” adding, “It can be suspected that the emergency epidemic prevention issue is being used as a pretext to shift responsibility for policy failures onto cadres and to find scapegoats.”