North Korea's Final Plenary Meeting of the Year This Week... Kim Jong-un's Messages to the U.S. and South Korea

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] North Korea will hold the last Workers' Party plenary meeting of the year this week. The meeting, which will review the achievements of 'Kim Jong-un's 10 years in power' and present goals for next year, is drawing attention to what kind of external messages Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, will deliver.

North Korea decided to convene the plenary meeting in late this month at the 5th Political Bureau meeting of the 8th Central Committee held on the 1st. Although the exact date was not disclosed, it is expected to be held around the 30th, the anniversary of Kim Jong-un's appointment as commander.

This meeting will serve as an occasion to summarize the achievements of Kim Jong-un's regime over the past decade and set new goals, and it is highly likely that Kim Jong-un will deliver both domestic and foreign messages at this event.

Especially as inter-Korean and North Korea-US dialogues remain deadlocked, the messages from Kim Jong-un at the plenary meeting, the highest decision-making body, are expected to serve as a gauge for predicting the situation on the Korean Peninsula next year. Attention is also focused on whether he will clarify his stance on the declaration of the end of the war promoted by the Moon Jae-in administration or on the recent pressure of sanctions against North Korea by the Biden administration.

At the 3rd plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee held in June, Kim Jong-un delivered his first message to the US and South Korea since the Biden administration took office, stating, "We must be prepared for both dialogue and confrontation."

As North Korea is recently focusing on domestic affairs by emphasizing the achievements of the first year of its five-year economic development plan, domestic messages such as strengthening 'self-reliance' are also expected. Kim Jong-un already gave a positive evaluation at the Political Bureau meeting on the 1st, saying, "Positive changes have occurred in overall areas of state affairs."