The North Hamgyong Provincial Party Committee recently held a lecture series aimed at strengthening discipline among local party officials, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Friday that the provincial party committee “held two days of lectures on Feb. 7 and 8, just before the Lunar New Year, to expose the undisciplined behavior of party officials and strengthen the party’s lax internal discipline.”
According to the source, the provincial party committee focused on discipline on Feb. 7, emphasizing that “discipline is the life of the party,” that “iron discipline is important for the party’s development,” and that “discipline is indispensable for the strict management of the entire party.”
“Today, our party realizes the unified leadership of the Central Committee and strictly ensures the party’s broad political activities through iron discipline,” members of the committee said. “Only when the party establishes strong discipline can we prevent all kinds of disorganization, indiscipline, and negative factors in the party’s overall activities.”
Wrong-doing revealed
On Feb. 8, the second day of the lecture series, the party committee shared with the audience examples of the delinquent behavior of party officials nationwide, while exposing the lack of discipline exhibited by local party officials.
Two examples were cited: The party secretary of a government-run grain store in Onsong County, North Hamgyong Province, and the party secretary of an electric transmission station in Taean, Nampo.
The party secretary of the grain store was caught singing the lyrics of the South Korean song “Arirang Alone” – a song about the desire for reunification – on the birthday of another party official. The official at the transmission station in Nampo, meanwhile, danced to a South Korean version of the folk song “Arirang” played over loudspeakers at an end-of-year party.
The two officials came under even more fire for protesting the accusations. The grain store official claimed that he “did not know it was a South Korean song and just wanted to lighten things up. The other official protested that “Arirang” is a UNESCO-registered piece of human cultural heritage.
The lecture also exposed wrongdoings by other party officials, including those who haughtily extorted bribes from administrative officials and made life unbearable for those who meekly refused to comply.
“At the end of the lecture, the party committee urged all officials to remember why the lecture was organized, come to their senses, and strengthen party discipline, warning that any official who interfered even a little with efforts to improve discipline would be dismissed or replaced, no questions asked,” the source said.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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