Two railway officials expelled, stripped of Party membership for Party Congress antics

Two North Korean officials from the Ministry of Railways
were reportedly removed from the Party Congress held earlier this month for
creating a drunken disturbance at their hotel. They were not only stripped of
their Party membership but also expelled from Pyongyang and are currently being
questioned by the authorities, a Daily NK source has reported.

“The Pyongyang railway bureau director and deputy director
of the political bureau were expelled while the Party Congress was well
underway,” the source from Pyongyang told Daily NK over the telephone. “They
were kicked out for drinking vodka at the 4.25 Inn, where they were staying,
and going around the hotel causing trouble with people they knew while
intoxicated.” 

Additional sources in the capital verified the incident and
surrounding circumstances.

“They were immediately removed from the congress venue,
following orders from the Marshal (Kim Jong Un),” he added. “Other
representatives at the congress were probably on edge, with the arrest of Jang
Song Thaek (during an extended meeting of the Workers’ Party Political Bureau
in 2013) still fresh in their minds.”

The source went on to explain that Party Congress
participants were instructed not to engage in any drinking, entertainment, or “anti-socialist activity” while they were staying at the 4.25 Inn for the political
gathering. This was in line with the state’s designation of an overarching “special watch week” from May 2 to 10, during which surveillance was ramped up
in Pyongyang and the border areas.

The North typically takes such action to prevent any
incidents that might challenge the integrity of the regime ahead of major
events. Having taken this lightly, the railway ministry officials are expected
to face severe consequences.

“Everyone was taking extra precautions because of the
increasing number of purges and executions of cadres that has occurred
recently. Their carelessness will cost them dearly,” he said. The two officials
were stripped of their posts, kicked out of the Party, and taken away from the
political event, signaling that their “political careers are over.”

Other attendees at the Party Congress avoided discussing the
incident in fear of attracting undesirable consequences, the source said.

Given that this was a major gathering held to cement Kim
Jong Un’s position as the top leader, the debacle created by the ministry
officials is expected to result in heavy punishments. “To set an example, they
might be sent off to a rural farm to receive ‘revolutionary training,” the
source speculated.