North Korea's Kim urges stronger military capabilities as party congress ends
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard
TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2022
TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2022
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
North Korea's Kim urges stronger military capabilities as party congress ends

World+Biz

Reuters
13 January, 2021, 10:25 am
Last modified: 13 January, 2021, 10:54 am

Related News

  • N Korea mobilises army, steps up tracing amid Covid wave
  • S Korea says it will spare no effort to help North Korea amid Covid outbreak
  • Kim Jong Un orders North Korea military to 'stabilise' drug supply amid Covid outbreak
  • North Korea reports 15 more suspected Covid-19 deaths
  • North Korea's Kim says Covid 'great turmoil', 21 new deaths reported

North Korea's Kim urges stronger military capabilities as party congress ends

The congress is the first since 2016 and just the second since 1980

Reuters
13 January, 2021, 10:25 am
Last modified: 13 January, 2021, 10:54 am
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks on the first day of the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo supplied by North Korea's Central News Agency (KCNA) on January 6, 2021. KCNA/via REUTERS
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks on the first day of the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo supplied by North Korea's Central News Agency (KCNA) on January 6, 2021. KCNA/via REUTERS

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for increased military power and greater nuclear war deterrence, state news agency KCNA reported on Wednesday, as a rare ruling party congress came to a close after eight days of policy discussions.

The Eighth Party Congress occurred less than two weeks before US President-elect Joe Biden takes office and amid a prolonged gridlock in talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear and missile programmes in return for US. sanctions relief.

"We must do everything we can to increase nuclear war deterrence even further as we build the strongest military capability," KCNA quoted Kim as saying at the conclusion of the congress.

Since announcing a self-declared moratorium on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests in 2018, Kim has called for continued production of nuclear weapons for his arsenal, launched a series of smaller missiles, and unveiled what would be North Korea's largest ICBM yet at a parade in October.

Separately, Kim Yo Jong, the leader's sister and a member of the party Central Committee, criticised South Korea's military for monitoring a parade in Pyongyang. The move was an expression of the South's "hostile approach" towards the North, she said in a separate statement carried by KCNA.

South Korea's military said on Monday it had detected signs that North Korea held a nighttime military parade on Sunday for the congress.

Kim's remarks come after South Korean President Moon Jae-in pledged to help engineer a breakthrough in stalled denuclearisation talks.

Kim Yo Jong has been serving as her brother's "de facto second-in-command," and her remarks ignoring Moon's call for dialogue is a proof of her role in the regime, said Moon Seong-mook, a former South Korean military official and head of the Unification Strategy Center in Seoul.

"She didn't mention dialogues with South Korea at all, even though the statement came a day after Moon's New Year's speech, which hints that talks or meetings are distant," he said.

Tightening State Control

The results of the congress highlight how Kim Jong Un is continuing to tighten state control over society as well as the economy, said Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein, a North Korean economy expert at the US-based Stimson Center think-tank.

"Kim's report is abundantly clear in stating that he wants the state to be the main planner and decision-maker not just over the general direction of the economy, but on a much more detailed level than that," he wrote in a report on Tuesday.

Recent policies have exerted greater centralized control of consumer markets in the country, imposed limits on foreign exchange, and crackdowns on smuggling along the border with China.

The congress, which ran for eight days in Pyongyang, is the first since 2016, and just the second since 1980.

On Tuesday, Kim, cemented his power at the congress with his election as party general secretary.

A meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), or parliament, is scheduled on Sunday to discuss adopting a law on the five-year economic plan and state budget, KCNA said.

Top News

kim jong un / North Korean leader Kim Jong Un / Kim Jong-un / north korea / North Korea Workers’ Party

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • A packet of US five-dollar bills is inspected at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington March 26, 2015. REUTERS/Gary Cameron
    Dollar price crosses Tk100 in open market 
  • Govt fixes tolls for Padma Bridge
    Govt fixes tolls for Padma Bridge
  • Photo: PID
    Prioritise dev projects, spend wisely: PM Hasina 

MOST VIEWED

  • A supporter of Shi'ite Amal Movement drives past a poster of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on the parliamentary election day in Houla, southern Lebanon May 15, 2022. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo
    Hezbollah and allies lose majority in Lebanese parliament, final results show
  • Former US President Donald Trump walks on stage during a rally at the Sarasota Fairgrounds Saturday, July 3, 2021, in Sarasota, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
    Power of Trump's endorsements faces test in 12 key US midterm primaries
  • 
A general a view of the Rumaila oil field in Basra, Iraq on 28 November 2017. Photo: Reuters
    Iraq balks at greater Chinese control of its oilfields
  • A wounded service member of Ukrainian forces from the besieged Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol is transported on a stretcher out of a bus, which arrived under escort of the pro-Russian military in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in Novoazovsk, Ukraine on 16 May 2022. Photo: Reuters
    More than 250 Ukrainian troops surrender as Kyiv orders Mariupol to yield
  • Indonesian palm oil farmers take part in a protest demanding the government to end the palm oil export ban, outside the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs office, in Jakarta, Indonesia on 17 May 2022. Photo: Reuters
    Indonesian farmers protest against rising cost of palm oil export ban
  • Flags of European Union and Finland fly outside the Finnish embassy in Moscow, Russia March 29, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
    Russia to expel two Finnish diplomats in tit-for-tat move

Related News

  • N Korea mobilises army, steps up tracing amid Covid wave
  • S Korea says it will spare no effort to help North Korea amid Covid outbreak
  • Kim Jong Un orders North Korea military to 'stabilise' drug supply amid Covid outbreak
  • North Korea reports 15 more suspected Covid-19 deaths
  • North Korea's Kim says Covid 'great turmoil', 21 new deaths reported

Features

Despite Bangladesh having about 24,000 km of waterways, only a few hundred kilometres are covered by commercial launch services. Photo: Saad Abdullah

Utilising waterways: When common home-goers show the way

5h | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

How Putin revived Nato

7h | Panorama
The reception is a volumetric box-shaped room that has two glass walls on both the front and back ends and the other two walls are adorned with interior plants, wood and aluminium screens. Photo: Noor-A-Alam

The United House: Living and working inside nature

7h | Habitat
Pcycle team members at a waste management orientation event. Photo: Courtesy

Pcycle: Turning waste from bins into beautiful crafts

8h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Can your coworker be your closest friend?

Can your coworker be your closest friend?

8h | Videos
The mystery behind Pyramid

The mystery behind Pyramid

8h | Videos
Finland, Sweden decide to join NATO

Finland, Sweden decide to join NATO

20h | Videos
Where you can swim for Tk5

Where you can swim for Tk5

22h | Videos

Most Read

1
Representative Photo: Pixabay.
Bangladesh

Microplastics found in 5 local sugar brands

2
Mushfiq Mobarak. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
Panorama

Meet the Yale professor who anchors his research in Bangladesh and scales up interventions globally

3
Impact of falling taka against US dollar
Banking

Taka losing more value as global currency market volatility persists

4
Govt tightens belt to relieve reserve
Economy

Govt tightens belt to relieve reserve

5
Union Capital asked to return Tk100cr FDR to BATBC 
Banking

Union Capital asked to return Tk100cr FDR to BATBC 

6
How Bangladesh can achieve edible oil self-sufficiency with local alternatives
Bazaar

How Bangladesh can achieve edible oil self-sufficiency with local alternatives

The Business Standard
Top
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • About Us
  • Bangladesh
  • International
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Economy
  • Sitemap
  • RSS

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net

Copyright © 2022 THE BUSINESS STANDARD All rights reserved. Technical Partner: RSI Lab