Multiple sources say North Korean authorities have ordered Kim Jong Un National Defense University and the Academy of National Defense Science to double the number of personnel regularly admitted to the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea.
The move comes ahead of the 110th birthday of late national founder Kim Il Sung on Apr. 15.
According to Daily NK sources in Pyongyang and North Pyongan Province on Monday, the party’s Organization and Guidance Department recently issued direct orders to that effect to both institutions.
This is noteworthy because it runs counter to moves made during the Eighth Party Congress last year that lengthened the candidacy period for entering the party from one to three years. This suggests the authorities intend to provide effective “political bonuses” to the defense science sector, which is responsible for advancing the nation’s arsenal of strategic weapons.
In society at large, people are increasingly shunning party membership as the country progressively marketizes, but within the military, personnel still regard party membership as essential to success.
Moreover, the move suggests authorities intend to encourage personnel responsible for weapons development as the country has carried out several tests of strategic weapons this year, including hypersonic missiles.
In fact, the Organization and Guidance Department reportedly called the latest order a “duty of the times to organize the ranks [of the two bodies] to become driving forces that continuously handle national defense development, while making them human resource groups with strong party loyalty.”
The Organization and Guidance Department also reportedly underlined that the “historical truth of today” is that countries cannot avoid destruction if they are weak, and that cutting-edge defense development is the most central defense effort that the nation must permanently pursue “until the day of victory of the Choson [North Korean] revolution.”
One of the sources said the authorities have long set high goals to attain objectives pertaining to the development of defense science, despite worsening provisions due to economic difficulties. He said it appears the authorities have responded by politically compensating people in the defense science sector by lowering the door of admission to the ruling party.
With the order, the percentage of party members from the defense sector will likely increase.
At Kim Jong Un National Defense University, the authorities have granted party membership to 10 to 15 out of the 200 or so graduates of each department a year, prioritizing “elementary cadres” who entered university directly upon graduating high school. The order will double this number.
Many personnel reportedly find themselves at the Academy of National Defense Science, too, after graduating from defense academies, Ryongsong Electrical Engineering University, the Institute of Natural Science, Kim Chaek University of Technology, Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, and the Institute of Nuclear Physics. Because of this, many researchers and scientists who were waiting for their turn to enter the party are welcoming the order.
One of the sources said the Academy of National Defense Science is a uniformed military organization that lacks external political organizations outside of the party itself and Socialist Patriotic Youth League. This meant many people had been unable to enter the party, even with seniority. With the order, however, even older members of the Socialist Patriotic Youth League can enter the party, much to their satisfaction.
Meanwhile, some North Koreans say the order is a signal flare calling on the entire nation to work in the defense science sector.
One of the sources said because the directive was an internal order from the Organization and Guidance Department, it does not appear to be a temporary measure to mark Kim Il Sung’s birthday. He said many people will flood into the defense science sector, having confirmed what the nation’s top leader really wants.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
