#NORTHKOREA: Kim Jung-Un Takes New Title At Party Congress

[world politics news] 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been  given a new title, "general secretary" of the ruling Workers' Party, formerly held by his late father and grandfather, state media reported Monday, in what appears to a symbolic move aimed at bolstering his authority amid growing economic challenges.

The party's ongoing congress, the first of its kind in five years, announced Kim's new title during its sixth-day session.

Since inheriting power upon his father's death in late 2011, Kim, 37, has gradually consolidated his grip on power through a series of high-profile executions and purges that removed potential rivals.

The Kim family has ruled North Korea with a strong personality cult that elevated key family members to a god-like status since Kim Il Sung founded the country in 1948.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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#NORTHKOREA: Kim Convenes Rare Party Meeting To Discuss "Crucial Issues" Poss. Related To Nuclear Talks

[world politics news]

North Korea says it will convene a key meeting of the ruling Workers' Party later this month to decide on "crucial issues," raising speculation that a major policy change could be forthcoming, possibly with regard to nuclear negotiations with the United States.

North Korea decided to "convene the 5th Plenary Meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the WPK in the latter part of December in order to discuss and decide on crucial issues in line with the needs of the development of the Korean revolution and the changed situation at home and abroad," the Korean Central News Agency said.

The meeting, the first of its kind in about eight months, is expected to be focused on a possible policy change in its nuclear disarmament talks with the US as the year-end deadline, which Pyongyang set for the United States to make a new negotiating proposal, is drawing closer.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.