Kim hopes conference can unite central and low-level Party organs

A meeting of the heads of low-level Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) organizations will be held in Pyongyang, according to announcements made by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and other state media outlets on December 16. The chairpersons of the Party’s primary committees received an order to depart for the capital on December 18. 
The timing of the conference suggests which themes may be discussed. December 17 marks the five year anniversary of the death of Kim Jong Il. It also comes at the end of a period of labor mobilization called the 200-Day Battle that began directly after the previous Party Congress this past May. The upcoming conference is likely to declare these events a success, encourage the ‘mental armament’ of the low-level Party chairmen, and promote the consolidation of power under the Party system and Kim Jong Un.  
“Primary Party chairpersons from all over the country received guidance that they should depart for Pyongyang on December 18,” a Ryanggang Province source informed Daily NK. “The conference agenda will likely be broken down into subgroups. The chairpersons of these primary Party committees are expected to arrive in the city between December 20 and December 22.”  
“The Party is making tough demands,” the source said. “As we approached the five year anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s death, a period of heightened security and restriction was implemented, lasting from December 15 to December 17. With great pressure to promote the outcomes of the 200-Day Battle and Kim Jong Il’s death anniversary a success, the hectic Party schedule is creating anxiety.”  
When asked about the conference for lower-level Party chairpersons in particular, the source said, “We are not exactly sure what the content will be. It is likely that tasks will be handed down from the Central Party related to goals laid out at the May Party Congress.” 
“It appears to be an extension of the May Party Congress,” Korea Advancement Solidarity’s Chief Kim Kwang In said during a conversation with Daily NK on December 16. “This is significant because a meeting at this level was never convened under Kim Jong Il’s leadership. Traditional socialist states aim for a balance between state and Party institutions.”  
Experts believe that the May Party Congress was used to establish and consolidate authority and power, with the regime announcing that the country would return to a normal socialist state. Kim Jong Un stressed the role of the base of the Party in this process. The lower-level Party conference is therefore likely being held in an effort to maintain the Central Party’s control over state order. 
“Kim Jong Un officially launched his system through the 7th Party Congress. There is a need for him to focus on strengthening his political power base. This conference is being held to bring the lower level Party secretaries under tighter control of the Central Party,” Kim continued.
Although this event is Pyongyang’s first to reach down the Party ladder, the conference has nonetheless set standards for attendance criteria. A defector with experience in the Party told Daily NK, “To be considered a primary Party chairman, you either have to come from a household with Party members or your father has to be a cadre. In addition, those who graduate college and receive additional training at provincial Party schools are also able to call themselves primary chairman 
“Generally, most of these individuals have experience in Party-military organizations or the propaganda department,” the defector added. “These are different from the ordinary Party cell secretaries because they are in a career path towards a role related to the essential functions of the Party.”