North Korea Uses “Center of Party,” a Term for an Heir, Perhaps for Kim Yo-jong

2020-6-10, Yoo Dong-ryul’s Front Line of National Security (유동열의안보전선) [Translation, summary]

Dr. Yoo Dong-ryul (유동열), the president of the Korean Institute of Liberal Democracy and an expert on North Korea, provides an analysis about the term “Center of the Party,” which North Korea’s state media used for the first time in 46 years.  “Center of Party” or more precisely the “Center of the Workers’ Party of Korea” is a term reserved to describe an heir. 

An article in the Nodong Newspaper on June 10, 2020 used the term “Center of the Party” or “Dang Joongang” (당중앙).  The article began:  “What is the most precious part of our homeland, which shinily inherited the holy revolutionary spirit?  It’s a unity of hearts. Unity of hearts is a fundamental characteristic of our style of socialism in which all the proletariat solidly unite around the leader to help each other and pull each other to form one big family, and [unity of hearts is] the source of infinite power.”

Latey, there has been emphasis on the Party and the people rallying around the leader in North Korean state media.

At the end of the article, it focuses on rallying around the “Dear Marshall,” which is a reference to Kim Jong-un (김정은)…but after that, it reads, “There is no power in the world that will block our proletariat’s move forward that advances [earlier than planned] the tomorrow of shiny fatherland prosperity by going together in ideology, intent, and action with the Great ‘Center of the Party’.”  They could’ve said “Central Party Committee,” but used the term “Center of the Party,” which are not the same.

In 1974 when Kim Jong-il became the Party’s political member to begin the power transfer process from Kim Il-sung to Kim Jong-il, the Party’s inner circle unofficially called Kim Jong-il the “Center of the Party.”  Officially, Kim Jong-il became the heir in 1980.  Until then, Kim Jong-il was referred to as the “Center of the Party.”

But now the term is used again.  There are questions of Kim Jong-un’s health, so there may be  a process of selecting an heir.  It could be Kim Yo-jong (김여정) [Kim Jong-un’s sister], given that Kim Jong-un’s children are too young.  North Korea’s official media are stating that Kim Yo-jong is the one in charge of anti-Republic of Korea operations.

Although it’s too early to tell, the official state media is using the term “Center of the Party.”  They didn’t use the term when the power transferred from Kim Jong-il to Kim Jong-un.  Instead, Kim Jong-un as heir became official by Kim getting titles, such as “Vice Chair of the Central Military Committee” and other titles, but the process to establish Kim Yo-jong as an heir is slightly different.

If the state newspapers meant Kim Jong-un, the “Center of the Party” is not as appropriate term for him; they would have used a different term, such as Dear Leader or Dear Marshall [which are more senior level titles].

Although it is unclear if they are referring to Kim Yo-jong when using the term “Center of the Party,” there are plenty of supporting materials to indicate as such.  That discussion is for the next time.

Source:  https://youtu.be/l_FCmFqQNB4