North Korean media keep silent over key party meeting
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North Korea's state-run media outlets on Friday kept silent to withhold reporting on the second day of a key Workers' Party meeting, which authorities here assessed as "very unusual."
"The government sees it as very unusual, and we will be watching the changes closely."
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North Korea’s state-run media outlets on Friday kept silent to withhold reporting on the second day of a key Workers‘ Party meeting, which authorities here assessed as “very unusual.”
Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency had revealed its leader Kim Jong-un presided over the fifth enlarged plenary meeting of the party’s eighth Central Committee, which kicked off on Wednesday.
But while the session is likely to have run into its second day on Thursday, state-controlled media outlets did not report on the event the following day as they usually would for such multiday events.
Seoul’s Unification Ministry said it is “very unusual” for the North to withhold media coverage of this year’s plenary session, and said it is watching the changes closely.
“From our observation, it is the first time North Korea did not run coverage on the enlarged plenary session since Kim Jong-un came into office,” said Cha Deok-cheol, deputy spokesperson at the unification ministry.
“The government sees it as very unusual, and we will be watching the changes closely.”
For the fourth plenary session held on Dec. 27, 2021 for five days, Pyongyang had its media outlets report on the results of each day’s meeting.
In its Thursday report, the KCNA said the regime “began the agenda discussion amid high political enthusiasm of all the participants who are fully aware of their important duty in the historic struggle for prosperity and development of our great country and the people’s welfare.”
Amid rampant speculations that the North is set to carry out a nuclear test soon, eyes are on whether the North Korean leader will announce his nuclear program.
If news outlets do not report about the third day of the event on Saturday, they may run reports covering the entire event after it ends, authorities here say.
Seoul’s Unification Ministry said it is working closely with US authorities to monitor the situation in key sites in the North related to its nuclear program, and maintaining a strong defense posture.
By Jo He-rim(herim@heraldcorp.com)
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