Kim Jong Un Puts Forth Orientation of Struggle in 2024 for DPRK

The historic 9th Enlarged Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the WPK took place at the office building of the Central Committee of the WPK, the supreme general staff of the revolution, from December 26 to 30, Juche 112 (2023) to proudly review the victory of 2023 achieved by the Party and the people through their united struggle and to map out the orientation and policies for the development of the Party and state work for the new year.

Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, was present at the plenary meeting.

Upon authorization of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee, Kim Jong Un presided over the plenary meeting.

The plenary meeting discussed the first agenda item "On the review of the implementation of the Party and state policies in 2023 and the orientation of struggle in 2024".

The respected General Secretary Kim Jong Un made a historic report "On the review of the implementation of the Party and state policies in 2023".

Speeches were made on the first agenda item.

Kim Jong Un made an important conclusion on the first agenda item "On the orientation of struggle in 2024".

Saying that the successes achieved in the course of implementing the Party and state policies in 2023 serve as another precious asset for our advance and development, he referred to the orientation of the future struggle.

We have two years in carrying out the five-year plan.

In these two years we must prove with redoubled efforts that the policy of struggle decided by the Eighth Congress of the Party and the advance we have made so far are perfectly correct, and we must achieve greater successes and sum up our struggle before the Party Congress.

Our general orientation of struggle is to further expand and actively apply the favorable situation and phase which we have won through a stubborn struggle, thus successfully implementing the fighting programme of the Eighth Party Congress and laying a springboard for a new advance in the future.

On the basis of the successes and experience of the past three years, we should make the remaining two years an effective process of preparing for a new development of the next stage, while steadily concluding the implementation of the resolutions of the Eighth Party Congress sincerely.

In particular, we should direct main efforts into solving the problems that are incomplete or a stumbling block in implementing the resolutions of the Party Congress, from next year so as to further expand the successes achieved till now and prove their worth, and turn all the planned tasks into brilliant fruitions.

The year 2024 is a decisive year of confirming the victory in attaining the fighting goal set by the Eighth Party Congress by heightening the offensive spirit on all fronts of socialist construction.

In other words, by the end of 2024, every sector and unit should secure an obvious practical guarantee for the fulfillment of the five-year plan.

With confidence in having braved the most difficult and severe trials, we should glorify 2024 with new and significant successes through a more mounting and strenuous struggle.

Noting that the primary problem is to strengthen the administrative and economic work system and order of the state, the General Secretary specified the principled issues and practical ways for the Cabinet to enliven the lifeline of the national economy and propel the purposeful economic development in line with its duty as the overall state management institution endowed by the constitution.

He stressed the need for all sectors of the national economy to put spurs to the growth of production, finish the work for readjustment and reinforcement and concentrate efforts on 12 major goals by setting them in front in the new year, too. He set forth the important tasks to be fulfilled in the key industrial sectors including metal, chemistry, electric power, coal, machinery and railway transport.

The conclusion defined it as our Party’s orientation of development for machine-building industry at the present phase to make the Ryongsong Machine Complex, a parent body of the machine-building industry, a standard and model of modernization in the period of the Eighth Party Central Committee and, on the basis of this experience, to modernize the Taean Heavy Machine Complex, the Rakwon General Machine Enterprise and other major machine factories during the period of the new five-year economic development plan and clarified the ways for its implementation.

It referred to all the tasks for more dynamically promoting the construction of the capital city and the rural housing construction, an important task started under the historic decision made at the Eighth Party Central Committee, and to the practical issues for realizing the grand long-term construction plan envisaged by the Party Central Committee.

It also called on the land and environment protection and urban management sectors to steadily push forward the phased tasks specified in the five-year plan and on all the institutions and enterprises to dynamically conduct the work for coping with disaster crisis on an annual basis.

The General Secretary advanced the specific tasks and ways for steadily increasing the agricultural productivity, including the work to definitely set the strategy and the step-wise goals for the development of farm machines and strongly promote the mechanization of the rural economy on the basis of survey and evaluation of the country’s overall agricultural infrastructure and agro-technical capability, the work to complete the country’s irrigation system and the work to vigorously hasten the reclamation of tideland without letup.

He called for further stirring up the social atmosphere and climate of active support to the rural areas throughout the country, establishing the strict disciplines of food administration, and building modern wheat processing factories in various regions and improving the wheat processing technology to raise the quality of products in keeping with the increase of wheat production.

The conclusion stressed the need for the light industry in 2024 to set it as the primary task for improving the quality of consumer goods and condiments and struggle for realizing it and referred to the tasks for stepping up the modernization of light industrial and regional industrial factories, developing the sericulture sector and improving the commercial, public catering and welfare service work.

It also mentioned the tasks facing the fishing sector for activating the pelagic fishing, increasing the varieties and species in the fish farming and cultivation field and particularly conducting the offshore fishing on a mass scale to boost the marine production, and the measures for providing the citizens of the capital city with more civilized and affluent living conditions and environment in the period of the 8th Party Central Committee.

The General Secretary stressed the need for the cultural sector, which occupies an important position in the present struggle towards the overall development of socialism and should steadily advance in the van, to take a more vigorous step forward in all aspects of cultural construction on the basis of the previous experience and lessons gained in the last three years, especially in the work of 2023.

The conclusion set forth important goals and ways for accelerating the social progress and the overall prosperity of the state with the steady development of the sci-tech capability and practical vitality of attaching importance to science and technology, including the establishment of a system for purposefully setting up the pivotal and magnetic up-to-date sci-tech development plan and concentrating scientific research forces on implementing it and the integrated control over the country’s development of science and technology.

The conclusion called for developing the contents and methods of education in a more concrete, diverse and practical way including introducing the research-type teaching methods and research-type study methods into specialized subjects and in pedagogically ensuring the implementation of the Party’s policies and thus making the year 2024 a year of greater changes in putting the country on the list of advanced states in education.

It stressed the need to correctly enforce our socialist public health policies and further consolidate the material and technical foundations of the public health sector. It called upon the fields of literature and art and media, which stand at the van of the ideological and cultural front, to usher in a new heyday of their development in 2024 and thus continuously elevate the high spirit of the entire Party, the whole country and all the people. It also stressed the need to steadily expand the proud successes registered in the sports field in 2023.

The conclusion indicated the policy-oriented tasks facing the people’s power organs, public prosecution, public security organs and other law enforcement organs in consolidating and developing the state and social system of the DPRK, precious gains of the revolution and powerful political weapon, and the practical ways for conducting the work of working people’s organizations more vigorously and powerfully.

The General Secretary analyzed and evaluated the dangerous security environment in the Korean peninsula on the brink of a nuclear war and the nature of the hostile forces’ military confrontation moves and clarified the important policy decision to further accelerate the radical development of the national defence capabilities.

This year, too, the U.S. and its vassal forces have still perpetrated vicious anti-DPRK confrontational moves and the desperate efforts of the enemies have reached the extremes unprecedented in history in their reckless, provocative and dangerous nature.

The U.S., which has caused instability and continued to aggravate the situation in the Korean peninsula, is exposing various forms of military threat to our state even at this moment when the year is falling.

The U.S. has more persistently instigated the south Korean puppets and Japs, who are playing the role as the most faithful stooge and "running-dog" in carrying out its hostile policy towards our Republic, to seek to expand the bilateral and tripartite cooperation and establish an anti-DPRK cooperation system. Such moves have got more frantic this year, consonant with the interests of the south Korean puppets who are seized with security uneasiness.

Openly talking about "end of regime" in the DPRK, the U.S. president cooked up the so-called "Washington Declaration", an anti-DPRK nuclear confrontation program, together with the south Korean puppets and newly organized and started the operation of the "Nuclear Consultative Group" aimed at the joint plan and execution for the use of nuclear weapons. Furthermore, he is zealously promoting the scenario for a nuclear war against the DPRK under the eyes of the world by abusing the "NCG".

The U.S. has frequently met with Japs and south Korean puppets to promise long-term conspiracy and collusion against the DPRK, discuss the countermeasures and enforce annual tripartite military drills. Such provocative attitude of the U.S., which is getting frantic with the strengthening of the triangular cooperation system on the unreasonable pretext of coping with so-called "threat" from the DPRK, is driving the situation in the Korean peninsula into more unpredictable and critical conditions.

What should not be overlooked is the fact that the continuous introduction into the Korean Peninsula of U.S. nuclear strategic means of all kinds, including the super-large strategic nuclear submarine that entered the southern half of Korea again in more than 40 years, the nuclear strategic bomber landed there for the first time in history, and the frequent dispatch of super-large nuclear-powered carrier task force, has turned south Korea completely into a forward military base and a nuclear arsenal of the U.S. and joint military exercises of various scales have been ceaselessly staged all the year round, setting the "highest record" in history.

The number of joint military exercises staged by the U.S. military gangsters with Japs and south Korean puppets this year has doubled compared to that of last year. This clearly shows that the U.S. aims at the military confrontation with the DPRK at any cost and is getting more desperately hell-bent on the preparations for it.

Only a few days ago, the Yankees summoned south Korean puppets to Washington to hold the second meeting of the "NCG" and announced to the world that they would complete the "guidelines on nuclear strategic plan and operation" and establish the "extended deterrence system" by the middle of next year and conduct nuclear operation exercises during the large-scale joint military exercises in forthcoming August. Timed to coincide with this, they brought a nuclear-powered submarine into the Korean peninsula again, making provocation even by the end of the year.

The reality shows that the U.S. inveterate hostile acts against the DPRK are not only confined to rhetoric threat or demonstration purposes but have evidently evolved into a stage of execution which can lead to actual military actions and thus trigger a conflict between the armed forces of both sides.

The conclusion referred to the fact that the north-south relations, which had been steadily deteriorating since the emergence of the Yoon Suk Yeol puppet regime, have been further tainted with distrust and hostility due to the anti-DPRK confrontation behavior of traitor Yoon getting evermore offensive recently and, consequently, the September 19 North-South Military Agreement, which had been playing a feeble mission of preventing armed conflict just for form’s sake, was scrapped.

What merits attention is that the Yoon Suk Yeol group of puppets is making a suicidal attempt to achieve the "balance of power" with the DPRK and stand in confrontation with it to the last by expanding the "UN Command", an illegal ghost body, into a multinational war organization for provoking the second Korean war.

The enemies’ provocative acts are getting ever more pronounced in the area along the Military Demarcation Line and the whole puppet army is being reorganized and reinforced in general while the brass hats of the puppet military have been recently replaced by extreme warmongers one after another. Such radical military moves getting more undisguised are also evidently a revelation of the sinister attempt for a war of aggression.

The General Secretary said that as shown by all the facts, the confrontation nature of the U.S. and its top class stooges has not changed even in the least but is getting more undisguised and more vicious.

When we pay close attention to the confrontational military acts perpetrated by the hostile forces while aggravating the dangerous security environment in the Korean peninsula every moment, the word "war" is already approaching us as a realistic entity, not as an abstract concept.

The prevailing grave situation requires the DPRK to steadily step up the work for getting the overwhelming war response capability and the full and perfect military combat readiness to deter any form of provocation and action at a blow since the enemies’ desperate efforts get more serious.

The People’s Army should closely watch and sharply control the hourly changing acute security situation in the Korean peninsula and take more thorough military measures to firmly safeguard the security of the state while always coping with it in an overwhelming attitude. And it should rapidly respond to any possible nuclear crisis and put continuous spurs to the preparations for a great event to suppress the whole territory of south Korea by mobilizing all physical means and forces including nuclear forces in contingency.

The conclusion called on the munitions industry to reliably guarantee the successful implementation of our Party’s strategy for the development of the national defence by further expanding the successes made in consolidating the self-supporting foundation of the defence industry and in developing and producing arms and equipment.

It stressed the need for the nuclear weapons field to lay a reliable foundation for steadily increasing the production of nuclear weapons and wage a vigorous struggle for carrying out the nuclear weapons production plan in 2024.

It also set forth the main targets and militant tasks for the field of missile development and production.

The conclusion clarified the task for the field of space development to launch in addition three reconnaissance satellites in 2024 on the basis of the experience gained in the successful launch and operation of the first reconnaissance satellite in 2023 and referred to the nationwide full-scale measures for dynamically accelerating the development of space science and technology.

It set it as the main task facing the field of shipbuilding to enhance the underwater and surface combat strength of the navy by bringing about the second revolution of the warship-building industry and to carry out at an early date the task incomplete in attaining the major five-point goals for developing the national defence capabilities. It also stressed the need for the unmanned air industry and the detected electronic warfare sectors to develop and produce various kinds of unmanned military hardware and powerful electronic warfare means in conformity with the characteristics of modern warfare.

The conclusion set forth the tasks for the militia defence force in charge of a wing of the national defence to complete the combat preparations, including the work to further enhance the operational control level of commanding officers of the Worker-Peasant Red Guards as well as the combat capabilities of its members by steadily improving the training contents and methods so as to positively cope with the enemies’ combat action methods.

The General Secretary made a detailed analysis of the gigantic geopolitical changes in international geo-political situation and balance of forces in 2023, the main features of present international situation and the external environment of the Korean peninsula. And he advanced the strategic and tactical policies to be held fast to in the external affairs and clarified the need to newly formulate the stands on the north-south relations and reunification policy and make a decisive policy change in the work against the enemy.

The field of external affairs should actively and tactically cope with the changing and developing international situation and write a diplomatic history of the DPRK which accords with the position of a powerful country on the principle of defending the dignity of the Party, raising the national dignity and protecting the national interests.

He set forth the tasks for concentrating the main efforts on the development of relations with the ruling parties of socialist countries to further expand and strengthen the external sphere of the country, further consolidating the foundation of support and solidarity to the DPRK by further developing the relations with the anti-imperialist independent countries opposed to the hegemony strategy of the U.S. and the West under ever-changing international situation and waging a dynamic anti-imperialist joint action and struggle on an international scale.

We should consistently adhere to the anti-U.S. and anti-enemy struggle principle of power for power and head-on contest and pursue the high-handed and offensive toughest policy.

This year we reaffirmed the unshakable will to counter the frantic nuclear war threat racket and all-out confrontation of the U.S. and its vassal forces with nukes and all-out confrontation and inflicted insurmountable security crisis and horror upon the enemies by the overwhelming exercise of the thorough war deterrent.

Whatever the enemies attempt and whatever they choose, it is our unshakable principle and mode of struggle against the enemy to control by super-tough counteraction beyond it and by the exercise of powerful ability overwhelming it.

The conclusion put forward the line of making a fundamental turnabout in the sector of work toward the south on the basis of a cool analysis of the bitter history of the north-south relations which has repeatedly suffered only distrust and confrontation.

The Korean Peninsula is now constantly in the grip of an uncontrollable crisis due to the reckless anti-DPRK confrontation hysteria and military provocations of the U.S. and south Korean puppets.

It is a well known fact that physical clash can be caused and escalated even by a slight accidental factor in the area of along the Military Demarcation Line where large armed forces of both sides are standing in confrontation with one another, and no one can deny the fact that the two states, the most hostile toward each other, are coexisting in the Korean peninsula at present.

Such abnormal situation is not a random phenomenon like mutation in the light of the successive puppet regimes’ extension of their policies but an inevitable result of the history of the north-south relations.

For a long period spanning not just ten years but more than half a century, the idea, line and policies for national reunification laid down by our Party and the DPRK government have always roused absolute support and approval of the whole nation and sympathy of the world as they are most just, reasonable and fair. But none of them has brought about a proper fruition and the north-south relations have repeated the vicious cycle of contact and suspension, dialogue and confrontation.

If there is a common point among the "policies toward the north" and "unification policies" pursued by the successive south Korean rulers, it is the "collapse of the DPRK’s regime" and "unification by absorption". And it is clearly proved by the fact that the keynote of "unification under liberal democracy" has been invariably carried forward although the puppet regime has changed more than ten times so far.

The puppet forces’ sinister ambition to destroy our social system and regime has remained unchanged even a bit whether they advocated "democracy" or disguised themselves as "conservatism", the General Secretary said, and went on:

The general conclusion drawn by our Party, looking back upon the long-standing north-south relations is that reunification can never be achieved with the ROK authorities that defined the "unification by absorption" and "unification under liberal democracy" as their state policy, which is in sharp contradiction with our line of national reunification based on one nation and one state with two systems.

Even at this moment, the south Korean puppets are unhesitatingly contending that the DPRK and its people are territory and population of the ROK that should be reclaimed, and it is shamelessly specified in the constitution of the ROK that "the territory of the ROK contains the Korean peninsula and its attached islands".

The reality urgently requires us to adopt a new stand on the north-south relations and the reunification policy.

Now we need to admit the reality and make the relations with the south Korean puppets clearer.

I think it is a mistake we should no longer make to regard the clan, who publicly defined us as the "principal enemy" and is seeking only the opportunity of "collapse of power" and "unification by absorption" in collusion with foreign forces, as the partner of reconciliation and reunification.

It is not suitable to the prestige and position of the DPRK to discuss the issue of reunification with the strange clan, who is no more than a colonial stooge of the U.S., just because of the rhetorical word the fellow countrymen.

South Korea at present is nothing but a hemiplegic malformation and colonial subordinate state whose politics is completely out of order, whole society tainted by Yankee culture, and defence and security totally dependent on the U.S.

The north-south relations have been completely fixed into the relations between two states hostile to each other and the relations between two belligerent states, not the consanguineous or homogeneous ones any more.

It can be said this is the present situation that shows the relations between the north and the south today.

The conclusion, lucidly looking into and recognizing the reality, stressed the need to take measures for readjusting and reforming the organizations in charge of the affairs related to the south including the United Front Department of the Party Central Committee and to fundamentally change the principle and orientation of the struggle.

Solemnly declaring that if the U.S. and south Korean puppets stubbornly attempt a military confrontation with the DPRK, the latter’s nuclear war deterrence will go over to a grave action without hesitation, the conclusion set forth the important tasks for the fields in charge of the affairs with enemies and foreign countries to make preparations in a foresighted way for keeping pace with the powerful military actions of the Korean People’s Army to subjugate the whole territory of the south on the basis of making it a fait accompli that a war may break out on the Korean peninsula any time due to the enemies’ reckless moves for invading the DPRK.

Expressing belief that another great turn to be brilliantly recorded in the history of the country would be effected in the overall work of the Party and the state and in our socialist construction in 2024, too, by the indomitable fighting spirit and efforts of millions of Party members, all the people and service personnel across the country boundlessly loyal to the Party and the revolutionary cause, the General Secretary ardently called upon all of us and other people of the whole country to wage a more dynamic struggle with confidence in victory and great enthusiasm.

All the participants expressed their absolute support and approval with enthusiastic cheers of "hurrah!" and warm applauses at his important conclusion, the guidelines for continuous innovation and leap forward for the accomplishment of the cause of the Party and the cause of socialism.

His historic documents, which clarified the clear orientation of advance and policies of struggle for the new year for surely implementing the strategy of development of our own style through courageous and bold revolutionary practice, will serve as an immortal militant banner in powerfully leading the Korean revolution to a vigorous upsurge and bringing earlier a new era of national prosperity.

The plenary meeting discussed the second agenda item "On increasing the sense of responsibility in implementing the socialist policy for schoolchildren".

The plenary meeting also discussed "On the work of the Central Inspection Commission of the Party for 2023" as the third agenda item.

The plenary meeting unanimously adopted a resolution "On carrying through the year 2024 tasks for the five-year plan set forth by the Eighth Party Congress".

The plenary meeting finally examined the fulfillment of the state budget for 2023 and the draft state budget for 2024 and approved submitting it to the 10th Session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly.

Kim Jong Un affirmed that the historic December Plenary Meeting decided on the direction of the struggle for 2024 in a more prudent manner and adopted relevant resolutions in conformity with the requirements of the revolution and the objective and subjective situation, thus providing a powerful weapon of struggle for making the overall development period of Korean-style socialism have a firm aspiration and achieving greater successes by bringing about a dynamic upsurge in the revolution.

Noting that it is the main idea and main spirit of the current plenary meeting to more dynamically struggle for attaining the goals set forth by the 8th Party Congress in unity with patriotism, the General Secretary stressed that we should carry forward to 2024 the 2023 glory of achieving the most valuable victory and successes with redoubled courage and vigor, full of confidence in our strength and our cause, together with the great people.

When all the Party organizations and officials faithfully fulfill the sacred mission and duty they have assumed before the state and people, rallied close around the Party Central Committee, the manifold ordeals and difficulties will be overcome and our cause of dynamically advancing for realizing the grand ideal and goal will be further accelerated, he noted.

Taking the oath solemnly on behalf of the Party Central Committee that he would always be faithful to the revolutionary idea and cause of President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Kim Jong Il, he expressed belief that the high enthusiasm of all the participants ahead of the new struggle in 2024 would surely lead to bold practice and proud fruition.

The 2023 December Plenary Meeting of the WPK Central Committee successfully completed its historic and responsible discussion amid the high political consciousness and surging enthusiasm of all participants to demonstrate to the whole world the invincibility of the Korean revolution advancing with great ambition and ideal and dynamically guide the successful implementation of the programme of struggle of our Party.

The members of the leadership body of the Party Central Committee, who stood at the starting point of the important struggle to provide a sure guarantee for the fulfillment of the five-year plan, take a firm pledge to fulfill their responsible mission entrusted by the Party and the people by laying more favorable foundations and circumstances for consolidating and further developing the phase of overall development of socialist construction during the term of the 8th Party Central Committee, true to the leadership of the General Secretary of our great Party.

The 9th Plenary Meeting of the 8th WPK Central Committee that will shine along with 2023, the great year of victory, will be recorded long in the history of our Party as a significant political event that redoubled the faith and optimism in the truth of our idea and our cause and its bright future, proved through trials and miracles, and fully demonstrated the unbreakable and proud might of our state.