Report on Eighth Enlarged Plenary Meeting of Eighth WPK Central Committee

At a time when the invincibility and fortitude of our cause have been further demonstrated all over the world and the all-people struggle for ushering in a new upsurge in socialist construction is gaining momentum thanks to the scientific and strong guidance and practice by the ever-victorious Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee convened a plenary meeting to promote the perfect and substantial attainment of the grand goals of national rejuvenation.

The Eighth Enlarged Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the WPK was held at the office building of the WPK Central Committee, the supreme general staff of the Korean revolution, from June 16 to 18, Juche 112(2023) to arouse stronger enthusiasm of all the Party members and other people for the struggle to consolidate the precious victory and the dignity and position of our powerful state, which they achieved by boldly breaking through all difficulties under the leadership of the great Party Central Committee, with steady advance and continuous leaps.

The plenary meeting made an interim summing-up of this year's work for implementing the major policies to firmly preserve the interests and security environment of the country and bring about a fresh upswing in the overall development of Korean-style socialism in line with the goal for progress and strategic and tactical principles set forth at the sixth and seventh plenary meetings of the Eighth Party Central Committee. It discussed and decided on the important policy issues to be addressed without fail and further spurred in the advance in the second half of the year.

Attending the meeting were members of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee, members and alternate members of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and members and alternate members of the WPK Central Committee.

Present there as observers were officials of the relevant departments of the WPK Central Committee and the Cabinet, chairpersons of the provincial, city and county people's committees, chairpersons of the provincial rural economy committees and leading officials of ministries, national agencies and major industrial establishments.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, was present at the plenary meeting.

The presidium of the meeting was formed with members of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee.

The plenary meeting put the following items on its agenda:

1. On launching a bolder struggle for implementing the major policies for this year

2. On the epoch-making measures for developing education

3. On decisively enhancing the role of the officials of people's committees at all levels

4. On the issues arising in strengthening the people's power

5. On the important measures for intensifying the building of Party discipline

6. Organizational matter

The plenary meeting unanimously approved the agenda items.

The first agenda item "On launching a bolder struggle for implementing the major policies for this year" was discussed.

The participants heard a report.

The report reviewed the signal successes achieved by the Party and people through their arduous and fierce struggle in the first half of the year.

The adventurous military manoeuvres and reactionary offensive of the US imperialists and the south Korean puppet cliques going unprecedentedly reckless have seriously threatened the security environment, development and interests of our state, laying a grave stumbling block to our advance.

Though the subjective and objective circumstances were unfavourable, the WPK and the people of the DPRK have overcome difficulties through proactive and positive struggle under the outstanding and tested leadership of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un and achieved encouraging and progressive successes to be proud of in all fields including the Party building, protection of national interests, economic construction and building of civilization.

The report summarized the work of the Party Central Committee for wisely organizing and guiding the all-people struggle for achieving substantial successes in the national economic development and providing a decisive guarantee for the fulfilment of the five-year plan.

It recalled that the Party Central Committee set it as a key issue to ensure self-sufficiency in food supply by increasing the country's agricultural production, opened up an epoch-making prospect for providing farming materials and strengthening the material and technical foundations of the countryside, and took every possible measure to successfully attain this year's grain production goal.

The Party Central Committee also took important measures to enable the major sectors of the national economy, including coal-mining, machine-building, forestry and railways, to make progress, and took revolutionary steps to tighten discipline in implementing the national economic plan. Such efforts brought about considerable results in tackling the unstable fluctuations that manifested in some sectors at the outset of this year, remarkably increasing the growth rate of production in all fields of economic construction.

The report briefed the participants on the successes achieved in the struggle to attain the 12 major goals for national economic development.

This year's goal of irrigation construction, set at the Seventh Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the WPK, has been fulfilled in the main and the socialist patriotic movement for increased coal production pioneered by the coal miners of South Phyongan Province is spreading on a larger scale to all sectors and units across the country. The metallurgical and chemical industries, the twin pillars of economic development, are taking the lead in the drive, staunchly tiding over the ordeals and difficulties and overfulfilling their higher plans.

In the construction sector, the construction of the first-stage 10 000 flats in the Hwasong area was successfully completed to be followed by inauguration. The construction of additional 2 000 flats in the area and that of 1 400 flats in the Taephyong area were completed and new rural villages were built one after another, instilling joy and confidence into the people across the country.

Now, the construction of second-stage 10 000 flats in the Hwasong area, the construction of a new street in the Sopho area, the construction of the Kangdong Greenhouse Farm and the housing construction in the Komdok area are progressing apace.

The firm faith of all the people that the leadership of the Party is a science and victory gets stronger amid the struggle for implementing the decisions of the plenary meetings of the Party Central Committee, and the will to pave a broad avenue toward self-reliant prosperity with the great might of loyalty and patriotism has developed into the all-people ideological sentiments. This is a great success incomparable with any economic growth.

The report referred to the analysis made by the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee of some shortcomings and wrong attitudes revealed in the struggle for implementing the state economic policies in the first half of the year, and the ways for overcoming them.

The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee importantly put forward the realistic tasks to be fulfilled immediately for the sustainable and long-term development of agriculture.

The report rigorously analyzed a series of wrong attitudes—failure in establishing strict discipline of unconditionally carrying out the national economic plans in the economic work for the first half of the year and in building self-supporting foundations of the economy in a substantial way.

The high goals of struggle for this year and the reality oriented to the comprehensive development require the major industrial sectors, the pillars of the national economy, to overcome the one-sidedness in production, consolidate the already-reached growth line and bring about a fresh upsurge in the overall economy through a more vigorous struggle.

The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee intends to put spurs to completing the projects for the readjustment and reinforcement, updating and modernization being promoted at the key industrial and other sectors in order to make significant successes of completion for consolidating the backbone of the self-supporting economy one after another in the second half of the year.

The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee in the report stressed the need for all construction project headquarters to take thoroughgoing measures for supplying building materials in consideration of the builders' ever-growing enthusiasm for struggle in this year witnessing the largest-ever projects in the country's history of construction and to invariably push ahead with the projects as scheduled through a strenuous offensive while perfectly ensuring the quality of design and construction.

In particular, the report underlined the need for all sectors and units to responsibly conduct the work for proactively encouraging and supporting the young people ideologically, morally, materially and technically to ensure that their high patriotic enthusiasm results in shining feats and miracles, true to the noble intention of the Party Central Committee which entrusted the young people with the whole project for building a new street in the Sopho area of Pyongyang Municipality.

In the report, the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee paid attention to the accounts of the work for carrying out the policy-oriented tasks prioritized by the Party at present.

In particular, it analysed and reviewed in detail the execution of the new childcare policy set forth at the Third Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Party Central Committee.

In the past two years, provinces, cities and counties made much effort to increase milk production and provide facilities for producing dairy products along with the establishment of the well-organized system and order for supplying dairy products. This made it possible to regularly supply dairy products to all the children at nurseries and kindergartens every day, which is one of the most remarkable changes made in the life of our people by the Eighth Party Central Committee.

The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee correctly found out and reviewed the successes and shortcomings manifested in the execution of the Party's childcare policy by classifying them according to different units and contents, and stressed the need to take practical measures for increasing the production of dairy products and promote them consistently.

The report referred to the issue of pushing forward with the work for land administration and ecological environment protection in a long-term and development-oriented way, the issue of scientifically intensifying the work for financially and monetarily guaranteeing economic development and the improvement of the people's living standards, and the issue for the Cabinet to establish a well-regulated unified commanding system and controlling and reporting system of the economic work as befitting the economic headquarters of the country.

The report said that in order to confidently pave the path for achieving rejuvenation of the country by dint of self-reliance, it is necessary to hold fast to the development of science and technology as a core strategy in all fields and sectors and focus efforts on it.

The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee put forward the ways for training the scientists and technicians, who are the vanguard and main forces of the country's sci-tech development, into revolutionary and patriotic scientists, and mobilizing and using the sci-tech talents in a unified and effective way, and specified the major goals and tasks of sci-tech development at present.

To dynamically push ahead with the expansion and development of the space industry as a national affair is arising as an urgent task, the report pointed out.

The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee proposed an essential structural measure to be referred to the Supreme People's Assembly based on the view that the nationwide space science and technology potentiality should be fully mobilized to pave the path to the development of space industry in a far-sighted way and turn the country into a world-class space power by steadily expanding and increasing the sci-tech successes made at the early stage for exploring the space field.

The Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee stressed the important mission of security organs to thoroughly guarantee the implementation of the policies of the Party and the government with the security work and in a legal way, and underlined the need for relevant sectors to more offensively, tactically and powerfully conduct the work for reliably defending the single-hearted unity, the irresistible might of the DPRK.

The report referred to the analysis and evaluation of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee on the justification for directing greater efforts to bolstering up the capabilities for self-defence in conformity with the present changed security situation of the DPRK and steadily updating the military hardware of the DPRK armed forces.

The complicated and serious situation on the Korean peninsula which is getting out of control requires the DPRK to constantly renew its military potentials and make a faster advance toward bolstering up its self-defence capabilities.

The practical actions which turned the core tasks for bolstering up the defence capability set forth at the Eighth Congress of the WPK into successful entities, pursuant to the solemn declaration of the WPK that the DPRK will counter the enemies' nukes and policy of frontal confrontation in kind, have demonstrated the rapid building speed of the ever-developing strategic force of the DPRK and its powerful military technical capabilities and exposed the US imperialists and the south Korean puppet forces to the insurmountable security crisis.

The Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee appreciated the real successes that the strategic force of the DPRK has made progress recognized by the world in the light of the high-level military technical capabilities and the development speed of weapon systems and has developed into an existing powerful entity. On the other hand, it strictly reviewed the shortcomings that were revealed in some fields and that cannot be overlooked.

The most serious one was the failure in the military reconnaissance satellite launch, the important strategic work in the field of space development, on May 31.

The five-point major goals for developing the defence capabilities set forth by the Eighth Congress of the Party are all important, but the development of military reconnaissance satellite is of very great significance in the prospect of the development of the armed forces of the DPRK and in making full preparations for combat.

The report bitterly criticized the officials who irresponsibly conducted the preparations for satellite launch, and set forth the militant task for officials and scientists in the relevant field to make a thorough analysis of the cause and lesson of the recent failure, successfully launch the military reconnaissance satellite in a short span of time and thus make a shortcut to improving the capabilities of the Korean People's Army's reconnaissance intelligence and achieving a greater leap forward in the field of space development, bearing deep in mind their important mission.

All the successes made in the field of developing various weapon systems including nukes and missiles are a big stride forward in the important and critical situation of bolstering up the nuclear war deterrent of the country, the Political Bureau affirmed, calling on the national defence field to consistently adhere to the orientation of developing nuclear weapons and the line of bolstering up the nuclear force set forth by the Party Central Committee and reliably defend the sacred revolutionary cause of Juche by increasing the production of powerful nuclear weapons.

The report seriously analyzed and evaluated the security situation on the Korean peninsula extremely deteriorating due to the reckless war moves the hostile forces are making in disregard of the patience and warning of the DPRK and referred to the urgency to swiftly respond to them in a military technical, political and diplomatic way.

The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee recognized that the principle of action for action should be strictly adhered to and the overwhelming and offensive countermeasures should always be taken forcefully without delay against the enemy's intentional and undisguised escalation of military tension. And the plenary meeting unanimously approved concrete plans and modes of counteraction for their implementation.

The Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee set forth important tasks for conducting external activities independently and more actively on the principle of defending the sovereignty and national interests to cope with the swirling international military and political situation such as further strengthening solidarity with the countries which are opposed to the US brigandish strategy for world supremacy.

The report referred to the issues essential in remarkably increasing the leadership ability and fighting efficiency of the Party as required by the enormous revolutionary tasks facing the DPRK at present and in line with the urgent requirements of the subjective and objective environment.

The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee analyzed and reviewed the successes made in the work for actively promoting the qualitative consolidation of the Party and enhancing the fighting efficiency and activity of the Party organizations in the first half of the year, and the shortcomings that should be immediately overcome in the Party work.

The report referred to the new Party measures to firmly guarantee the sound political climate and development of the Party by energetically organizing and conducting the work to implement the five-point line of Party building in the new era and indicated the orientation of work to be given priority to by the Party organizations at all levels in attaining the goals of this year's struggle and carrying out the strategic tasks.

Expressing belief that the Korean revolution will surely enter a new phase of development as all the Party members and other people are making redoubled efforts by dint of their unity in the face of the worst difficulties, the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee called upon all sectors and units to put spurs to successfully attaining the goals of this year's struggle and courageously shoulder the mission and important duty they have assumed.

All the participants expressed with loud applause their full support for and approval of the report of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee which set forth the policies for dynamically putting the Korean-style socialist construction on a certain track of upswing according to our timetable.

Kim Tok Hun, premier of the Cabinet, and Ri Il Hwan and Jon Hyon Chol, secretaries of the Party Central Committee, made speeches on the first agenda item.

Speakers expressed their determination to dynamically propel the implementation of the decisions of the Party, always aware of their heavy responsibility for the important affair directly related to the dignity and might of the Party and the state in the most important and responsible period in the history of the development of the DPRK. They presented to the plenary meeting for deliberation the measures that should be taken in the course of the struggle to enhance the role of the Party organizations and attain the 12 major goals for national economic development.

The plenary meeting discussed the second agenda item "On the epoch-making measures for developing education".

Pak Thae Song, secretary of the Party Central Committee, made a report on the research made by the relevant field true to the Party's policy on adjusting the educational structure of the country to ensure advanced education and improving the contents and methods of education in keeping with the worldwide trend of educational development and submitted it to the plenary meeting for deliberation.

The plenary meeting discussed the third agenda item "On decisively enhancing the role of the officials of people's committees at all levels".

Jo Yong Won, secretary of the Party Central Committee, said that the Party has very great trust in and expectations for the officials of the provincial, city and county people's committees, who are powerful locomotives leading the development of their regions and are in charge of the people's living.

The meeting stressed the issues of principle to be maintained by the chairpersons of the people's committees in fully displaying the initiative, creativity and activity in their work with the firm viewpoint and stand that they are totally responsible for their regions before the Party and the state. The participants heard a briefing on the chairpersons of some people's committees who failed to do their duties in a responsible manner being given to defeatism.

The plenary meeting discussed the fourth agenda item "On the issues arising in strengthening the people's power".

Choe Ryong Hae, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, made a speech.

He referred to the importance of improving the method of electing deputies, who are the people's representatives responsible for state affairs, in making them display high political consciousness, initiative and ingenuity, aware of their sacred and responsible position given by the state and the people.

There was a briefing on a new method of electing deputies which was studied in the direction of helping the working masses fulfil their responsibility and fully exercise their rights as genuine masters of the state and society in conformity with the people-oriented character of the state power and of further consolidating and developing the democratic election system based on the principle of centralism.

Choe Ryong Hae presented to the plenary meeting for deliberation a plan for studying the method of electing deputies.

The plenary meeting discussed the fifth agenda item "On the important measures for intensifying the building of the Party discipline".

Jo Yong Won, secretary for Organizational Affairs of the Party Central Committee, made a speech.

Noting that Kim Jong Un advanced the unique idea of Party building that the building of Party discipline should be put forward as a crucial priority task and important line of Party building and activities in order for the WPK to give full play to its might as a revolutionary party waging a struggle, Jo Yong Won stressed the significance and importance of establishing more thoroughly the Party discipline at present when the Party is advancing towards the attainment of the great goal of overall development and overall rejuvenation of socialist construction.

He made a report on the accounts of research on the ways of improving the machinery and work system in the field of discipline supervision on the basis of the theory of Party building in the new era.

Presented to the plenary meeting for deliberation was a measure of realistic significance in strengthening the institutional mechanism for thoroughly guaranteeing the realization of the unified leadership of the Party Central Committee and the broad political activities of the Party and invariably maintaining the WPK's pure political climate through iron discipline by further intensifying the building of Party discipline on a new level.

The plenum held panel study and consultative meetings to draw up positive and detailed measures for thoroughly implementing the tasks for the second half of the year and to put together and examine the issues that were raised in the discussion of the agenda items.

Senior officials of the Party and the government guided the panel study and consultative meetings.

At the meetings, constructive measures were brought up on the basis of sincere and dynamic study of the tasks reflected in the draft resolutions and the plans whose scientific accuracy and feasibility were strictly examined were deliberated.

The Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee submitted the finally confirmed draft resolutions to the plenary meeting for approval.

The plenary meeting adopted the relevant resolutions with unanimous approval.

It discussed the organizational matter as the sixth agenda item.

It recalled and by-elected members and alternate members of the WPK Central Committee.

Choe Hui Thae and Kim Son Uk were by-elected as members of the Party Central Committee from alternate members. Kim Yong Chol and Kim Yong Gyu were by-elected directly as members of the Party Central Committee.

Hong Pyong Chol, O Yong Jae and Kim Pong Chol were by-elected as alternate members of the Party Central Committee.

The plenary meeting recalled and by-elected members and an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee.

Kang Sun Nam was by-elected as member of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee from alternate member and O Su Yong was by-elected directly as member of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee.

Kim Yong Chol was by-elected as alternate member of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee.

The meeting dismissed and elected a secretary of the WPK Central Committee.

O Su Yong was elected as secretary of the Party Central Committee.

The plenum dismissed and appointed a department director of the WPK Central Committee.

O Su Yong was appointed as department director of the Party Central Committee.

The meeting recalled and by-elected a member of the Central Inspection Commission of the WPK.

Choe Kun Yong was by-elected as member of the WPK Central Inspection Commission.

The enlarged plenary meeting, at which policy issues of great significance in radically advancing the Korean revolution were discussed and decided earnestly in a detailed, special and innovative way amid the high political consciousness and enthusiasm of the participants, rounded off its work, being convinced that the huge goals of the struggle for this year will be successfully attained by the ardent loyalty of all the people to the Party Central Committee headed by Kim Jong Un.

All the participants pledged to fulfil their important mission in further propelling the overall rejuvenation and development in a more prudent way through the persistent struggle based on the single-hearted unity, further hardening their self-confidence to make the noble idea and sacred cause reach the high eminence of success and victory as early as possible.

The Eighth Enlarged Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the WPK served as an important political occasion which powerfully demonstrated once again the high enthusiasm and spirit of advance of the whole Party to consolidate the militant might of the Party in every way and to steadily accelerate the dauntless general advance for attaining the grand goals of struggle by remaining loyal to the ideology and leadership of Kim Jong Un.

KCNA

2023-06-19