The North Korea Workers’ Party Congress and Kim Jong-un’s Legitimacy

Two weeks have passed since the close of North Korea’s 7^th Workers’ Party Congress and, for the moment, the country’s streak of provocations that kicked off 2016 have abated. On Friday, Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released an official statement from the National Defense Commission calling for military talks with Seoul to reduce tensions between the neighboring countries. In this regard, most of the blame lays with North Korea. In a drawn out preamble to the congress, Pyongyang made a spectacle of its military prowess by testing a nuclear weapon, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and a submarine launched missile among other advanced missile technologies. Korea watchers believe the rationale for the provocations is to legitimize Kim Jong-un’s regime by displaying his ability to defend North Korea’s sovereignty.

The pace of weapons demonstrations observed in the first months of 2016  fit the narrative Kim wove throughout his many speeches at the congress: North Korea will defend itself with its technological advances, especially with its nuclear arms. However, a related message that was less obvious was that of using technology to advance the economy and wellbeing of the country. These vague allusions to harnessing the will of the people and applying their technological acumen to the prosperity of the nation culminated in a loosely defined five-year plan for economic growth. Though lacking specifics, the plan’s unveiling is significant.