Kim Jong Un’s Blueprint for Power: A Peek into North Korea’s Central Party School

Kim Jong Un directs construction details
Fondly recalls visit 2 Years Ago
From threat to partnership with Russia

North Korean state media, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), reported that Kim Jong Un personally guided the construction site of the Workers’ Party Central Cadre Training School. The Central Cadre Training School in North Korea is a crucial stepping stone for military officials to enter central politics, as they must graduate from this institution to be appointed to a secretary-level position in the central party.

Kim expressed satisfaction with the Central Cadre Training School, which spans approximately 1.4 million square feet, stating, “A flawless Kim Il Sung-Kim Jong Il University and Juche Thought University have been established.” He praised the school for being well-organized and practical, fitting its function as a training ground for party officials. He also identified some defects and irrational elements at the educational boundary and proposed solutions to rectify them, encouraging the completion of the construction at the highest level.

North Korea decided to build a new Central Cadre Training School to systematically nurture party officials and thoroughly conduct ideological education by improving its scale, capacity, and educational environment even more.

Kim personally designated the construction site for the Central Cadre Training School and directed every detail to ensure it could be built as a university above universities.

Kim emphasized that building the Central Cadre Training School and nurturing excellent party officials is a crucial issue linked to the party’s prospective development and the revolution’s succession.

The Central Cadre Training School, which started construction in April of last year (2023), is expected to be completed by mid-May after a year of construction.

Kim Jong Un is known to have a special affection for the Central Cadre Training School. He visited the Workers’ Party Central Cadre Training School in 2022 and delivered a commemorative lecture.

According to Rodong Sinmun, Kim conducted a historic commemorative lecture on the Strengthening History of the Workers’ Party during his visit to the Workers’ Party Cadre Training School.

At that time, the Central Cadre Training School was led by the party official Pek Hyung Chol, who pledged to make it the top educational institution in North Korea to nurture excellent officials. In the commemoration lecture, the President of the School, Pek Hyung Chol, Party secretary Jang Song Ho, secretaries  Jo Yong Won, Ri Il Hwan, Kim Jae Ryong, and Pak Thae Song listened carefully to Kim Jong Un’s words and reported Rodong Sinmun.

Kim showed his affection for the Central Cadre Training School by visiting the stone monument engraved with a handwritten lesson left by President Kim Il Sung in August 1948 and inspecting the state of education.

He asserted that “developing the educational business of the Central Cadre Training School is a pivotal issue related to the party’s preaching” and that “the party must renew the core task of nurturing key personnel to continue the construction of the party following the demands of the changing times.”

Meanwhile, North Korea is managing the party and government by taking control of the Central Cadre Training School internally while externally aligning with Russia. Experts analyze that North Korea is gaining economic and strategic benefits by utilizing Russia’s power after the Ukraine war.

In March, Russia’s veto blocked the term extension of the expert panel monitoring the implementation of the UN Security Council’s sanctions resolution against North Korea. With Russia’s help, North Korea has managed to evade the UN’s sanctions surveillance network. Experts evaluate this as a clear indication that Russia’s perception of North Korea has changed from a security threat to a partner.

Even China, known for its friendly relations with Russia and North Korea, considered North Korea’s nuclear and missile development as a serious challenge to the international non-proliferation regime. China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, joined the sanctions against North Korea along with the United States, fearing that North Korea’s military power could pose a threat to its country.

However, Russia has been openly supporting North Korea’s evasion of sanctions by using its veto power, and the two countries have been getting closer.

After the North Korea-Russia summit in September 2023, it was observed that Russia would propagate advanced space-related technology, including artificial and military satellites, to North Korea in exchange for receiving weapons, including missiles and gunpowder, from North Korea. Russia has been in the middle of a long war with Ukraine since 2022 and needs a large amount of weapons. As a result, North Korea is known to secretly receive supplies, including fuel, from Russia in return for supplying weapons.