Pyongyang, North Korea — The Worker’s Party Congress is meeting for the first time in nearly four decades.
3,000 delegates gathered on Friday in Pyongyang, to formally announce the Kim Jong-un’s ascension to power. The cabinet of the congress is expected to be readjusted.
The sixth convention of the party was celebrated 36 years ago in 1980. On that time, Kim Jong-un’s grandfather, Kim Il-sung said that no convention would be arranged until people enjoyed three square meals of rice and meat per day. The statement from the former leader of North Korea is courtesy of the Korea Times from South Korea.
By Friday morning, North Korea had not reported more details about the historic meeting. More than a hundred foreign journalists have been invited to cover the congress. However, many have reported they have not obtained access to events in progress.
The state broadcaster Korean Central TV (KCTV) was supposed to stream the event on Friday evening, said Daily NK. However, the TV channel was showing images of North Korean people attending to museums, to learn about history of the country.
Human Rights Watch calls for a cessation of forced labor in North Korea
In the context of the seventh massive meeting of the Worker’s Party, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) has sent a letter to Kim Jong-un. The letter ask him to stop abuses committed by the government, such as forced hard labor.
The congress started on Friday is the highest level meeting of party representatives. According to Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director, the North Korea’s leader must take action in order to end human right abuses.
“This ruling party congress is a rare event, but it’s made possible by the forced labor that untold thousands of North Koreans are subject to as part of everyday life under Kim Jong-Un’s abusive rule,” Robertson said the HRW.
Which is the impact of organizing a Party Congress?
Late on February, government authorities in North Korea announced the 70-day battle, ahead of the party congress. The announcement was made via the state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun. According to the HRW, people all over the country were subjected to forced labor in order to produce goods and impulse crops.
Incomes from the ‘battle’ were used to cover costs of the party congress, said the HRW. In 2014, an United Nations commission of inquiry on human rights in the country, found that prisoners at camps “operate mines, factories, farms and logging camps”. Profits obtained are not apparently reinvested in the prisons, added the U.N.
Source: Korea Times