The mature and seasoned leadership of the great Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, which dynamically guides the sacred revolutionary cause of Juche to victory and glory, is putting the honour and dignity of an independent power on the highest stage of century and expanding the phase of national development and rejuvenation to a wide scope, and such a soaring spirit of advance and upturn constitutes the mainstream of the times that can neither be checked nor be reversed.

The eternal vitality of Korean-style socialism, the precious appellation "heroic people," the prosperity of the country and the happiness of posterity are defended and guaranteed only under the banner of the ever-victorious WPK. This iron faith and will is firmly cherished by the Korean people as an unshakable cornerstone in the course of their grandiose struggle unprecedented in history for ushering in a new heyday of overall efflorescence by upholding single-mindedly the far-reaching plan of the Party Central Committee.

The revolutionary enthusiasm of the entire Party and all the people is surging remarkably to translate into brilliant reality and eye-opening changes the action programmes, adopted and set forth at the Eighth Congress and plenary meetings of the WPK Central Committee, by steadily displaying the inexhaustible strength of loyalty and patriotism and the invincible might of the single-hearted unity peculiar to the Korean revolution. In this situation, another plenary meeting was convened to coordinate and broaden in scope the short-, intermediate- and long-range plans for national rejuvenation and to promote their perfect implementation in a far-sighted way.

An enlarged meeting of the Tenth Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the WPK was held from June 28 to July 1, Juche 113 (2024), to inject great vitality into the all-people advance for confirming the victory in attaining the goals set forth at the Party Congress by further raising the offensive spirit on all the fronts of socialist construction.

In order to successfully follow the orientation of state affairs and carry out all the tasks decided at the Ninth Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the WPK, the plenary meeting reviewed the work in the first half of the year, set the main orientation of the work and policies of struggle for the second half of the year and discussed and decided on the important issues of practical significance in preserving the original features and people-oriented character of Korean-style socialism.

The meeting was attended by 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 as observers were officials of relevant departments of the WPK Central Committee, leading officials of ministries, national agencies and provincial-level leadership bodies, chief secretaries of city and county committees of the WPK and leading Party and administrative officials of major industrial establishments.

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

When the General Secretary took the platform, all the participants broke into cheers of "Hurrah!" looking up to the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader of the Party, state and people, who is bringing about a new turning point of gigantic creation and changes for the building of a powerful socialist country with his outstanding ideas and leadership abilities, firmly taking the helm of the Juche revolution.

A presidium composed of major members of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee was elected.

The presidium of the plenum authorized Kim Jong Un to preside over the meeting.

Saying that the present work system, whereby a plenary meeting is convened in June as an interim review meeting for implementing the decisions adopted at the previous plenary meeting held at the end of every year, is beneficial to our work, he stressed that the current plenary meeting should also make a correct appraisal of the successes made and shortcomings revealed in the work in the first half of the year and their causes and pay attention to scrupulously planning and organizing the work for the second half of the year.

After referring to the agenda items to be dealt with at the plenary meeting, including the issue of improving the work style and leadership abilities of leading officials and the issue of supplementing and perfecting the judicial system of the country, he declared the plenary meeting open, hoping that it would serve as another important occasion in developing the revolution.

The following agenda items were brought up at the meeting:

1. On the interim review of the implementation of the major Party and state policies for 2024 and measures

2. On improving the officials' method and style of work

3. On enforcing strict work discipline in the key sectors

4. On some tasks for the consolidation and development of the judicial system

5. Organizational matter

The plenary meeting unanimously approved the presented agenda items.

The participants heard a report on the first agenda item.

The report referred to the remarkable successes made by the WPK and the Korean people in the first half of the year by waging a courageous struggle for translating into brilliant reality the major policy-oriented tasks of the Party and the state despite the extremely acute internal and external environment of the country.

It informed the participants, based on data, of some shortcomings and mistaken practices revealed in the course of implementing the Party and state economic policies in the first half of the year.

It was followed by speeches made by Kim Jae Ryong, secretary of the WPK Central Committee, Pak Jong Gun, vice-premier of the Cabinet and chairman of the State Planning Commission, Ri Chol Man, vice-premier of the Cabinet and chairman of the Agricultural Commission, Jo Chun Ryong, secretary of the WPK Central Committee, Pak Thae Song, secretary of the WPK Central Committee, Kim Song Nam, department director of the WPK Central Committee, Kim Myong Hun, vice-premier of the Cabinet, Pak Chang Ho, chief secretary of the North Hwanghae Provincial Committee of the WPK, An Kyong Gun, minister of Machine-building Industry, and Ri Thae Sop, minister of Public Security.

The leading officials analyzed the successes and deviations made in the course of implementing the decisions of the previous plenary meeting in their fields and brought before the current plenary meeting the issues that await an immediate solution.

Kim Jong Un made a concluding speech on the first agenda item "On the interim review of the implementation of the major Party and state policies for 2024 and measures".

In the concluding speech, he referred to the successes achieved in the course of attaining the struggle goals decided on at the Ninth Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the WPK and their factors and significance, adding:

Three and a half years have already passed since we started the struggle for implementing the fighting programme set at the Eighth Party Congress.

What I am clearly convinced of in the course of our struggle that has been carried on while overcoming many challenges and obstacles is the fact that the whole motive and accelerating force of the advance towards the comprehensive development of socialist construction is further increasing and growing.

The review of the work of the Party and the state in the first half of this year enables us to come to such a conclusion.

Early this year, our Party approved the great plan for regional development that is unprecedented since the founding of the country and entered a stage of its full-scale implementation.

There still exist formidable subjective and objective factors obstructing our advance, and the tasks facing this year as part of the five-year plan are daunting. Despite these conditions, we have launched another huge construction project for removing the centuries-old regional backwardness. This testifies to the weight and value of the historic decision of the Party for improving the living standard of all the people across the country and proves that our own strength and political and economic potentials are rapidly growing stronger enough to develop all parts of the country at once to meet the requirements of the new era.

At present, the frameworks of regional-industry factories, whose construction started in different parts of the country this year, have been completed and the manufacture of the equipment for them is being pushed forward. And the end of the year will witness the completion of new modern production bases in 20 cities and counties.

We can see that a definite upturn has been brought about in the economic situation in the first half of the year, as compared with the same period of last year. 

Last year, the discipline in implementing the national economic plans as a whole was loose from the outset, so urgent measures had to be taken at a plenary meeting of the Party Central Committee. But this year, metal, chemical, power and other major industrial sectors related to the 12 major goals have carried out their monthly and quarterly plans without big deviations in the first half of the year.

It can be said that the farming situation throughout the country up to now is also fairly good.

The huge irrigation project for this year has been completed in time on a nationwide scale, fertilizers, agricultural chemicals, fuel and other farming materials have been supplied, and wheat and barley yields have increased compared to last year and transplanting of rice seedlings was completed in the right season thanks to the soaring enthusiasm of the agricultural workers throughout the country.

If we direct our efforts to minimizing the effects of abnormal weather conditions and to manuring and cultivating crops in a scientific and technical way, we will be able to bring about results as satisfactory as last year's.

Nowadays, remarkable successes are being made in the construction field one after another across the country and significant new projects are underway. This boosts the people’s hope for, self-confidence in and enthusiasm for a new life and new happiness.

A remarkable improvement has also been made in implementing the socialist policy for the students, the top priority task for the Party and the government, evoking a positive response from students and their parents.

This is a clear change and a proud result.

Land administration, urban management, education, public health, sports and several other fields have pushed ahead with their policy-oriented tasks, opening up definite prospects, and the role of law-enforcement organs to ensure the implementation of the Party’s decisions and social stability has also been enhanced markedly. 

Saying that the economic field is achieving a positive trend and growth speed, clearly distinguishable from the past ones, and different sectors of the country are striving for their revitalization in the face of quite a few obstacles and difficulties in the state work and social life as a whole, Kim Jong Un affirmed that this proves that the potentials of the country for tiding over any difficulties and its unique capability of developing in its own way are increasing more rapidly in a many-sided and multiple manner.

He said that the comprehensive upsurge in socialist construction in the first half of this year is an upward trend brought about by the strong fighting spirit and inexhaustible strength of all the Party members and other people, firmly united around the Party Central Committee with patriotism, which is developing into the Chollima spirit in the new era. He called for fully demonstrating the country's inexhaustible development capability and spirit of advance by successfully attaining the planned goals through a dynamic struggle in the second half of this year to provide a reliable practical guarantee for implementing the decisions of the Eighth Party Congress with stronger confidence in our cause and the prospects of our struggle.

In the speech, he made a serious review and analysis of the deviations and shortcomings revealed in different sectors of the national economy and specified the tasks to be fulfilled to effectively and steadily push forward with the work of reaching the level of economic development envisaged in the five-year plan and place the overall economy on a track of stable and sustainable development.

On the basis of a scientific and detailed analysis of the present economic work，the concluding speech  indicated the clear practical ways for the Cabinet to organize and direct the economy as a whole in a responsible manner and conduct the work of developing the country‘s economy in a long-term, foresighted and methodological way.

The Cabinet should first design a clear-cut road map for increasing the executive ability to proactively improve economic management，work out a step-by-step plan,　and then push ahead with the ensuing undertakings with a proper method. Meanwhile, it should give priority to the opinions of the field officials and working people directly in charge of production and construction, and on this basis, find out ways to manage the economy in conformity with the actual conditions and improve economic management in a feasible and progressive way, and take other effective and practical economic measures.

It should promote the improvement of economic management prudently and step up the implementation of the economic tasks for the second half of the year dynamically so as to make this year a year of new changes, filled with significant successes greater and more notable than those of last year.

It should also direct its main efforts to establishing strict discipline in implementing the national economic plan, while giving priority to strengthening its unified guidance over the national economy as a whole, and overcome the shortcomings and difficulties latent in the economic work in time and effectively，and actively propel the production growth and technological development.

In order to secure a clear practical guarantee for carrying out the five-year plan this year, it is important for the state to powerfully push ahead with the major projects including the building of an energy-saving oxygen heat blast furnace at the Hwanghae Iron and Steel Complex and the establishment of C1 chemical industry so as to complete the planned tasks without fail.

In the second half of the year, key industrial sectors should play a leading role in high spirits in achieving significant innovative successes in 2024.

The power industry sector should finish the first-stage construction of the Tanchon Power Station within the year, speed up the construction of new power stations, put in efforts to raise the efficiency of existing power stations and ensure a rational supply of electricity. And the whole society should strive to economize on electricity so as to make effective use of the produced electricity.

The machine-building industry sector should press on with the modernization of the Ryongsong Machine Complex, which is already underway, so as to properly accumulate experience in boosting the machine-building industry as a whole, and actively research and introduce innovative technologies.

The railway sector should take positive measures necessary for increasing the safety of train operation and maintaining and reinforcing the serviceable life of railways and structures, and improve the quality of the overhaul of locomotives, manufacture of rolling stock and repair of railways.

The construction sector should direct main efforts to strengthening the construction forces both in quality and quantity at all construction units and more actively conduct the work for building up the designing forces in the fields of furniture and greening design and in local areas and for developing and producing a variety of quality building materials.

The concluding speech presented the immediate tasks facing the sectors of land and environment protection, urban management and disaster prevention including the protection of the marine ecology of the country, preservation of the landscape of the capital and establishment of a well-regulated system for materials storage and supply necessary for disaster recovery.

It specified the most important and key issues in this year's farming and the ways to ensure the stability of agricultural production.

It pointed to the need to make preparations for building a large-scale greenhouse farm in the Thaegam area next year in a far-sighted way and push ahead with the work of additionally building modern chicken farms in Pyongyang and every province in a long-term and planned way.

It stressed the need for the Cabinet, the Agricultural Commission and the Vehicle-building Industry Bureau to achieve without fail their yearly targets according to the plan for the development of farm machines by 2030 and radically increase the rate of farm work done by machines by transforming the farm machine-building industry.

Stressing the need to direct the Party's and state's efforts to dynamically organizing and conducting the work for developing the regional economy, Kim Jong Un called on the Organizational Leadership Department of the Party Central Committee, the Cabinet, the non-permanent committees for promoting the Regional Development 20×10 Policy and the relevant provinces, cities and counties to take thorough measures for supplying equipment in keeping with dynamic progress in the construction projects for regional-industry factories and to get ready raw and other materials in a responsible manner in order to give full play to the vitality of the Party's policy on regional development from the first year of production.

He clarified detailed and scientific practical measures to be taken in selecting cities and counties to be involved in the construction next year, making thorough preparations and vitalizing regional economy.

He also stressed the need to carry out a project for laying a foundation for developing national light industry according to a well-thought-out plan, for the Cabinet and Pyongyang Municipality to unconditionally implement the projects for improving the living standard of the citizens of the capital city this year and for provinces, cities and counties to keep hold on solving difficulties in living of inhabitants as an important policy task.

He advanced giving priority to enlisting and increasing scientific and technological abilities as a primary task for successfully attaining the goals planned for this year, including the 12 major targets for developing the national economy and leading the ongoing key projects of national importance to a successful conclusion.

The sci-tech field should make efforts to resolve the issues arising in the economic work as immediate bottlenecks, issues calling for urgent solution in current production and practicable issues directly related to the stabilization and improvement of the people's living standards. The principle to be adhered to in resolving these issues is to intensify and perfect researches in the direction of minimizing cost and improving quality by optimizing all processes in production and construction, he said.

Ministries, national agencies, industrial establishments and organizations should play the role of a motive force in sci-tech development, actively develop and effectively mobilize their own technical forces, talented personnel, and create an atmosphere of competition for mass technological innovation with them as the core and axis, so as to resolve the sci-tech problems arising in this year's production and construction and in implementing the year's plan for readjustment and reinforcement and modernization projects, he said.

Kim Jong Un referred to the detailed tasks to be carried out by the field of culture including education, public health, literature and arts, the media and sports and principled issues for their implementation.

He stressed that the functions and role of law should be further enhanced to establish a revolutionary work system and discipline throughout all fields of state administration and social life and create a favourable environment for development.

The Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly should actively conduct on its own initiative the work of enacting, amending or supplementing sector-specific laws related to different issues arising in the revolution and construction, including the work of revising the Socialist Constitution and providing a legal guarantee for further enhancing the prestige of the state, promoting regional economic development and encouraging scientific and technological innovations and their successful implementation in a way of making them have enough executive abilities and binding force, he said.

Judicial and prosecution organs should properly conduct legal supervision and control with correct methodology to satisfactorily solve the important problems arising in stabilizing and improving the country's economic work and people's living standards at present, including the issue of establishing strict discipline in the planning, financial and monetary sectors at all levels and the issue of legally guaranteeing the implementation of the Party's childcare and regional development policies.

The concluding speech stressed the importance of organizing and conducting the work of the working people's organizations more purposefully and vigorously so that the traditional spirit and mettle of patriotism of the youth and other members of the working people's organizations, which are now prevailing in the whole of society, are given uninterrupted play till the end of the year.

In the concluding speech, Kim Jong Un clarified the orientation of the military and political activities of all the armed forces of the DPRK, including the KPA.

Stressing once again that success in this year's work entirely depends on the activities of the Party organizations and officials at all levels, he called upon all the members of the central leadership body of the Party to fulfill the heavy responsibility they have assumed before the country and people and thus bring about substantial improvements in the country's economic development and the people's living standards.

And he went on:

As mentioned above, our cause of vigorously advancing towards a sacred goal to achieve the prosperity and development of the Republic and the well-being of the people has further developed in all aspects of the course of this year's advance, but it faces important tasks to be carried out without fail and serious shortcomings that require proper correction and overcoming.

As you all remember vividly, the December Plenary Meeting of the Party Central Committee in 2023 accepted the solemn pledge of the participants to unconditionally carry out the tasks set forth in the meeting's decisions whatever the conditions and circumstances, and members of the central leadership body of the Party declared to the people and the world the pledge they made before the flag of the glorious Party, greeting the new year.

We now have half a year in our struggle to fulfill our firm pledge to hasten the pace with a steady and active pioneering spirit and make 2024 a year of redoubled efforts for our great state and people.

In order to bring substantial changes and results, which our people who firmly believe in the true intentions of their Party and government as their own and painstakingly follow all their policies and plans whatever the difficulties and hardships, can feel with pride and pleasure this year, too, the entire Party should wholeheartedly make redoubled efforts to spur the struggle for the second half of the year and make a vigorous advance.

Always mindful of the weight of the revolutionary tasks we have determined to carry out unconditionally before the people and with the unrivalled driving power of vigorously opening up the comprehensive development phase and confidence in the prospect of revolution getting brighter, let us all strive harder to successfully conclude this year with proud and innovative achievements.

When Kim Jong Un finished the concluding speech, loud applause broke out.

All the participants expressed full support to his concluding speech which clearly indicates the most correct path for dynamically advancing toward the successful conclusion of the year 2024 and the struggle strategy for bringing about uninterrupted innovations and successive leaps forward on the upward track in socialist construction.

The concluding speech serves as a precious action programme and a powerful militant banner as it clarifies the clear guidelines and scientific ways for strengthening the leadership abilities and fighting efficiency of the Party in every way and for accelerating the advance of the revolution with the extraordinary consciousness and perseverance of all Party members and other people in conformity with the requirements of the times, when a crucial turning point has been brought about in the sacred course of development of the DPRK.

The plenary meeting discussed the second agenda item "On improving the officials' method and style of work."

The report, advancing the issue of improving the officials' method and style of work as an urgent task facing the overall work of the Party and the state at present and an important one directly related to the prospect of the revolution and the development of the Party, made a critical review and analysis of the seriousness and consequences of some officials' improper work style devoid of the revolutionary mass viewpoint, such as mechanical and stereotyped work attitude, formalism, whitewashing work results, subjectivism, arbitrariness, abuse of power, and bureaucratism that run counter to the attitude, traits and people-oriented method and style of work appropriate to the hard core of the Party, who have to work to achieve the ennobling ideals the Party set forth at its founding.  

The reporter presented to the plenary meeting concrete ways of ensuring that all officials acquire the qualifications and traits of a genuine communist by further revving up the atmosphere of the ideological campaign for fundamentally transforming the method and style of work within the Party and intensifying ceaseless education and dynamic struggle. 

The plenary meeting discussed the third agenda item "On enforcing strict work discipline in the key sectors."

The report, by referring to the facts, made an analysis of a series of deviations revealed owing to the irrationality of the working system in the key sectors, which should orient the economy, science and technology towards prospective and practical development, and presented relevant measures.

The plenary meeting discussed the fourth agenda item "On some tasks for the consolidation and development of the judicial system".

The report presented to the plenary meeting the result of studying of the draft ways of supplementing and perfecting the judicial system in an innovative way so that it can defend the political stability of our state and the rights and interests of the masses and firmly guarantee the comprehensive rejuvenation of socialism by law in line with the requirements of the Korean revolution that has entered a new period of development.

The plenary meeting discussed the organizational matter as the fifth agenda item.

It recalled and by-elected members and alternate members of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.

Kim Chung Song, Sung Jong Gyu and Kim Jong Sun were by-elected as members of the WPK Central Committee from alternate members, and Ri Yong Sik was by-elected directly as a member of the WPK Central Committee.

Twelve alternate members of the WPK Central Committee were recalled and Jong Myong Su, Ri Myong Guk, Jon Hyang Sun, Jo Sok Ho, Choe Hyok Chol, O Myong Chol, Kim Song Chol, Ju Hyon Ung, Kim Chol, Choe Yong Il, Ri Yong Hyop and Ri Song Bong were by-elected as alternate members of the WPK Central Committee.

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

Ri Tu Song was dismissed and Kim Jong Sun was appointed as department director of the Central Committee of the WPK.

Cadres of government organs and at a key post were dismissed and new ones appointed.

Jong Myong Su was appointed as vice-premier of the Cabinet, Ri Myong Guk as minister of Finance and Jon Hyang Sun as chairwoman of the Central Committee of the Socialist Women's Union of Korea.

The plenary meeting organized sector-specific consultative meetings to draw up the proactive and detailed measures for thoroughly carrying out the tasks for the second half of 2024 and comprehensively deliberate on the issues that arose in the discussion related to the agenda items.

Members of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee guided the consultative meetings.

At the consultative meetings, constructive opinions based on a serious and dynamic study of the draft decisions were fully proposed, and they were strictly examined in the light of scientific accuracy, objectivity and feasibility.

The 21st Meeting of the Political Bureau of the Eighth WPK Central Committee was convened on July 1.

The Political Bureau reviewed the opinions raised at the sector-specific consultative meetings and decided to submit the finally confirmed draft decisions to the plenary meeting.

The plenary meeting adopted three decisions with unanimous approval.

All the participants renewed their firm determination to powerfully lead and propel the successful implementation of the decisions of the Party plenary meeting by displaying their utmost redoubled efforts and devotion in the vanguard of carrying out the great revolutionary cause, reliably shouldering the heavy responsibility entrusted to them by the Party and the revolution.

Convinced that the high struggle goals facing us this year will be successfully attained by dint of the unity and unyielding patriotic struggle of the whole Party and all the people closely rallied around Kim Jong Un, the enlarged meeting of the plenary meeting, which seriously discussed and decided the policy-oriented tasks and practical ways of great significance in pushing forward our revolution without a moment's stagnation, concluded its work.

The enlarged meeting of the Tenth Plenary Meeting of the Eighth WPK Central Committee will be recorded in history as a significant occasion of further displaying the revolutionary features and militant spirit of the WPK, which is carrying forward the history of the development of the Republic with eternal dignity, glory and prosperity by dint of absolute prestige of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un and the invincible might of his great revolutionary ideas and is building an ideal society of the people where socialist civilization is in full bloom.

Political News Team