2010-09-29 21:58

PYONGYANG - The ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has made significant decisions regarding leadership following a landmark conference on Tuesday.

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Top leader Kim Jong Il, who had served as general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since Oct 1997, was reelected to the supreme post in the 65-year-old party, which has been leading the DPRK since the Northeastern Asian country was founded in 1948.

In a report announcing the appointment, the official KCNA news agency said that his stay "is the highest glory and happiness of millions of party members and servicepersons and people of the DPRK and a great auspicious event of the country and the nation."

Kim's reelection was the first item on the agenda at the WPK conference, which the KCNA said was convened "at a historic time when a signal turn is being effected" in carrying out the country's cause to build a thriving socialist nation.

Present at the meeting, tantamount to a temporary WPK congress, were Kim, who also chairs the National Defense Commission, the country's most powerful governing body, and delegates from different sectors and regions of the country of over 23 million.

Participants in the Pyongyang gathering, whose exact locale remains unknown, also amended the WPK Charter and renewed the party's leading bodies, including its central committee, auditing commission and control commission. The latter two are respectively responsible for financial and disciplinary affairs.

Beside Kim in the newly-elected 124-member WPK Central Committee were Kim Jong Un and Kim Kyong Hui, the first being the top leader's third and youngest son and the latter his 64-year-old sister.

At a plenary session of the new central committee, attended by Kim Jong Il, the party's innermost leading core, the Presidium of the Politburo of the WPK Central Committee, came into being.

Beside Kim Jong Il in the standing committee are four other senior members, including Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, and Ri Yong Ho, chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army (KPA).

Also at the central committee meeting, Kim Kyong Hui, who currently oversees the country's light industries, was elected into the 17-member Politburo of the WPK Central Committee, and Kim Jong Un into the 19-member Central Military Commission.

Kim Jong Un serves as one of the two vice-chairmen of the powerful commission, headed by his father, and the other vice chair went to Ri Yong Ho, according to the KCNA, quoting a decision of the plenary session.

The two designations came one day after Kim Jong Il issued an order in his capacity of supreme commander of the KPA promoting Ri Yong Ho to the military rank of vice marshal and Kim Jong Un to that of general, a rank next to vice marshal and above colonel general.

In the amendments made to the WPK Charter, "the duties of a party member and the contents of the work of party organizations at different levels are comprehensively revised and supplemented," the KCNA said.

The revision also adds a new charter to the current charter regulating the party's logo and flag and further stresses the need to strengthen the party's leadership over the civilians as well as the military, the news agency added.

Attendants at the conference were convinced that the modifications "will provide a sure guarantee for strengthening and developing the party ... and victoriously advance the revolutionary cause," the KCNA said.

In a report seemingly indicating that the WPK conference has concluded, the KCNA said early Wednesday morning local time that the conference "was held with success in Pyongyang on Sept 28" and that "Kim Yong Nam made a closing speech."

The historic gathering, the third of its kind in the party's history and the first in 44 years, took place in a festive Pyongyang, which had a jubilant atmosphere and a forest of flags, banners and placards planted across the capital.

On Tuesday, women dressed up in fine clothes could be seen on all main streets, and various outdoor performances were staged at popular public sites.

Outside the country, the international community is also closely watching the development in the DPRK, as the country is trying to secure a peaceful international environment for its economic development and has recently repeated its intent to resume the Six-Party Talks for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.

Contributing to the wariness of international players are the high tensions that have clouded the region since the March sinking of a South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors.

Seoul accuses Pyongyang of torpedoing the vessel and has since carried out several military drills with the United States off the Korean coast, while the DPRK denies any involvement and has repeatedly warned that the "provocative" exercises would threaten regional security.