North Korea will hold a plenary session of its ruling communist party this week to make key policy decisions, local media said Thursday, as it's preparing for summit talks with South Korea and the United States.
The central committee of the Workers' Party of Korea will convene the meeting Friday, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
It's meant to "discuss and decide the policy issues of a new stage in line with the demand of the important historic period of the developing Korean revolution," it said.
The report did not specify policy issues to be discussed, but the timing of the session draws keen attention. Also on focus is whether North Korea will unveil a potential shift in its stance toward its nuclear program.
The North's leader Kim Jong-un is scheduled to sit down with South Korean President Moon Jae-in next Friday, followed by a summit with US President Donald Trump probably in May or early June.
Trump said discussions are under way to set the date and venue, adding the two sides are also in negotiations on the release of the three American citizens held captive in the North.
(Yonhap)
Mike Pompeo, his new secretary of state nominee, met with the North's leader during his trip to North Korea over the Easter weekend. Trump tweeted the two formed a "good relationship."
North Korea's denuclearization will top the agenda for the series of summits. The North reportedly suggested a need for phased and synchronous measures for denuclearization, but the US has called on the North to dismantle its nuclear program in a complete, irreversible and verifiable manner.
"Given that the North mentioned new policy issues in a historic timing, the country may factor in its planned summits with the South and the US," an official at Seoul's unification ministry said when asked about the government's assessment of the meeting's timing.
In the WPK's plenary meeting, the central committee's members and alternate members discuss and approve key party policy lines and personnel reshuffles.
Kim's signature policy of seeking both nuclear and economic development, commonly known as the "byongjin" policy, was adopted at the WPK's plenary session held in March 2013.
"There is a high possibility that North Korea could unveil a new policy line, revising its byongjin policy at the plenary session," said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute.
"A new line will likely contain North Korea expressing its willingness to join denuclearization talks and resolve to improve ties with the South, the US and Japan, as well as to seek peace and co-existence," he added.
North Korea may find it difficult to directly mention denuclearization, but it could leave room for interpretations that it will seek denuclearization, according to Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University.
Experts said North Korea will use the upcoming party session to vindicate its potential shift in nuclear policy in front of North Koreans and officials.
The North's party meeting comes about a week after the North Korean leader chaired the WPK's first politburo meeting since February 2015, setting forth the party's future policy of international relations ahead of his summits with Moon and Trump.
North Korea is apparently trying to make key policy decisions at the WPK's meetings, which analysts say is aimed at strengthening a party-centric system.
They also said that the country seems to seek to show itself as an ordinary country that is operating a political decision-making system.
Analysts said North Korea could change party members in a reshuffle.
"Kim Jong-gak, the new director of the general political bureau of North Korea's armed forces, could be named as a standing member or a member of the WPK's political bureau," said Cheong at the Sejong Institute.
Hwang Pyong-so, Kim's predecessor, was one of five standing members of the politburo, but his latest removal from ranking military and Cabinet official posts raised the possibility that he would be replaced at the party level. (Yonhap)
