Media: DPRK changes its prime minister for the first time in four years. The photos released by KCNA attract attention

From December 23 to 27, 2024, the Expanded Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) was held at the central headquarters of the Party, with Kim Jong-un delivering a report. In addition to summarizing the work of the past year and setting new targets for the coming year, this meeting also saw significant personnel changes.

Pak Taech'ong, who formerly held the positions of member and secretary of the Central Political Bureau of the WPK, was appointed as head of the State Council, in charge of the Cabinet, and elected Deputy Secretary of the Central Political Bureau. Kim Tok-hun, Kim's predecessor as Prime Minister, was appointed Secretary of the Central Committee of the WPK and Minister of State Affairs of the Central People's Committee.

This was the first time in four years that North Korea has changed its prime minister. Kim Tok-hun became prime minister in August 2020, replacing Kim Tok-song, who only held the position for one year and two months.

Moreover, Kim Jong-gwan, First Vice Minister of the Defense Ministry, took up his post as Vice Chairman of the State Council and was also elected Member of the Central Political Bureau. Choe Son-hui, North Korea's first female foreign minister, also made it onto the Central Political Bureau. Images from the Korean Central Television showed Choe sitting in the front row of the assembly.

A Slow Rise to Power

Pak Taech'ong was "known" to the world when he began to appear alongside Kim Jong-un in reports of public events. This was 12 years ago, beginning in August 2012.

According to the South Korean Unification Ministry, Pak was born in 1955. While different sources – including the US — differ on his early career, all agree that he was the longtime deputy director of the WPK Central Organization and Guidance Department and once oversaw the organizational work of different fronts. In April 2014, Pak was transferred from Deputy Director of the Organization and Guidance Department to Director of the South Pyongan Provincial Party Responsibility Office (which was renamed Party Chief Committee in April 2016). This was his first assignment outside of the capital Pyonyang.

Judging from a number of speeches by Pak Taech'ong in South Pyongan province released by North Korea's newspapers, his work style in South Pyongan, though as a provincial leader, still followed the model of his tenure in the Organization and Guidance Department, emphasizing the need to strengthen organizational work to solve the backwardness of each sector, such as industry. During his first year on the job, in June 2015, Pak oversaw the opening ceremony for a new youth-run power plant in Ryesong.

According to media reports on the power plant at the time, Kim Jong-un's father, Kim Jong-il, proposed the plan to build hydroelectric stations in South Pyongan Province shortly before he passed away.

But in mid-August 2023, a Korean Central Television broadcast aired in the run-up to Youth Day, a national holiday in North Korea, disclosed the origin of the plan to name North Korea's first youth-run power plant after the country's younger generation. The broadcast recounted that on January 26, 2012, two days after he was appointed as the Party's First Secretary and thus the supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, then the third in command of the Kim family, wrote a personal letter stressing that Korea's young people should "fulfill their mission and duties as the shock troops of the revolution … in the new onslaught." After the letter was released, a new era of construction began at all fronts with the goal of giving full play to the creative spirit of Korea's youth. And "as a result," the report said, "many new facilities, named youth, have been created in various fronts of the national economy." It then listed six examples, of which the first was the Youth Power Plant in Ryesong.

After that, Pak's performance in South Pyongan received consistent praise. In particular, during the "70-Day Battle of Loyalty" in 2016, a campaign aimed at overcoming extreme difficulties caused by the so-called East Asia Cold Wave disaster the previous December, the Party Central Committee called on local officials to quickly restore production and livelihoods.

In May 2016, at the Seventh Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea, the 70-Day Battle became one subject of discussion, during in which Pak was specially invited to share his work. His speech was later published in its entirety in Rodong Sinmun, the Party's official newspaper.

In his presentation at the Seventh Party Congress, Pak said that the campaign in South Pyongan was successful "because [they] fully relied on people who are invincible in ideology, in action, in organization, and in struggle." Pak elaborated the Party and government's role in "mobilizing all the people in the province for the 70-Day Battle." Party cadres and officials went straight to the frontlines, working 24 hours a day with ordinary workers in three battlefields (coal, fertilizer and cement production). "As a result, we won the thousand-li-mare achievement of breaking the production records at the same time on a single day in three fronts." Pak said.

But Pak attributed it to the leadership of Kim Jong-un: "Why in the world were we able to do this? That was a result of the greatness of respected Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, who remembered South Pyongan province even in his sleep." Thanks to Kim Jong-un, Pak said, ordinary workers "could stand bravely as masters of the nation, fully exhibiting the character of Korea's working class."

Pak's work in South Pyongan province gained him one rank after another. He went from WPK Central Committee member before his appointment to South Pyongan, deputy member of the Central Political Bureau of the WPK during the 70-Day Battle, to full member of the Central Political Bureau and member of the Politburo in 2016, when he was also appointed Vice Chairman of the WPK.

From 2017 to early 2024, Pak held many high-ranking positions, most of which were Party-related jobs. In 2019, Pak was also selected as the chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, which gave him the chance to take part in many foreign affairs, but mainly dealing with so-called traditional friendly countries, not neighboring countries or the United States. For example, in October 2019, Pak visited Russia.

According to the South Korean Yonhap News Agency, from late 2021 onward, Pak, who had served as chairman of the State Space Development and Utilization Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, returned to party-related work and held various central positions. According to the Korean Unification Ministry, Pak attended most central meetings. At the very least, he was clearly included in North Korea's inner political circle, because he participated in Kim Jong-un's trip to Moscow in late September 2023 as the secretary of the WPK Central Committee.

Why did Pak, a mid-ranking central official, quickly rise to the top leadership again? It was because he led the flood recovery at the end of last July, according to South Korean news outlets.

It all began in late July 2024, when several provinces around Pyongyang in northwestern North Korea, including North Pyongan, Ri Song-gye, Chagang, and South Hamgyong provinces, were hit with heavy rain and floods of catastrophic severity. More than 126,000 people died, were injured, or went missing; another 167,000 were forced to leave their homes. As a result, a large number of officials responsible for flood management, including two responsible members of the State Council's Ministerial Meeting – Kim Hyong-gwan, director of the National Disaster Relief Committee and Minister for the National Emergency Response Headquarters, and Pak Hwa-song from the Ministry of National Defense who was responsible for the mobilization of the military for relief efforts – as well as two provincial chiefs of North and South Pyongan province, were fired by the central government in early August.

In early July, it seemed that all the senior officials working on the disaster management were those under former Prime Minister Kim Tok-hun. Kim chaired a meeting of the National Emergency Crisis Response Committee to discuss the relief efforts. According to official reports, Kim Jong-un visited the affected area and held a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee with local officials.

Kim Tok-hun (second, left from center) chaired the State Council meeting focused on the flood relief at the end of July. Image via KCNA

However, when Kim Jong-un visited the affected area again on July 28, the only high-ranking central officials accompanying him, other than Uyon Won, the secretary of the WPK Central Committee who always appears with Kim during inspections, were Vice Chairman Pak Jong-gwan in charge of the military sector, and Pak Tae-chong.

After July 28, the official narrative of the top leadership in charge of flood relief seemed to have changed drastically. As reported by North Korean media, Kim Tok-hun and Pak Tae-chong seemed to have divided the responsibilities between them in handling the aftermath. Kim Tok-hun mainly supervised the restoration, while Pak dealt with the rescue of residents. For example, Pak accompanied Kim and delivered gifts from ordinary Koreans to students in South Pyongan province in mid-August. Pak also went to a hotel that the DPRK government rented in central Pyongyang to accommodate some 5,000 students from the affected areas in early September, just before the DPRK's National Day on September 9.

In mid-August, Pak reportedly traveled to the southeastern part of the DPRK to transfer support materials from the country's citizens "with full of affections" to the victims of Kangwon and Ryanggang provinces by himself without any other central officials. Kim Tok-hun never showed up in Kangwon and Ryanggang.

It seemed that these differences persisted at the Expanded 8th Plenary on December 29. Images and videos published after the meeting also seemed to highlight Pak's central role in Kim Jong-un's future leadership. KCNA's video report about the meeting published the same day showed Kim Tok-hun and Park Tae-chong, now a central secretary, sitting together in the front row and talking, but Park Jong-gwan, who was also transferred to another leading position at the meeting, was in a middle row with other members of the Central Political Bureau. In a video recorded on the same day, North Korea's state broadcaster KCNA showed Kim Tok-hun and Pak Tae-chong walking together down a corridor. But Pak Tae-chong was standing next to Kim after Kim Tok-hun turned around and walked to another meeting room. Kim Tok-hun was the fourth in line accompanying Kim in July.

Development Priority

North Korea's replacement of Kim Tok-hun after the disaster in late July might not seem to be out of the ordinary. After all, in August 2020, Kim Tok-hun had replaced Pak's predecessor Kim Tok-song, also after a "rare heavy and serious flood disaster."

In late July 2020, the DPRK also experienced a massive natural disaster. According to the DPRK's report, "almost 40 thousands [hectare] of agricultural fields" were damaged across the country; more than 16,000 residential houses and 630 more public buildings were "destroyed and water-logged." The national economy also suffered great losses as "countless" public and private enterprises were destroyed and many roads, bridges and railways were destroyed in the floods.

Kim Tok-song was nowhere to be found in any official report. He vanished at that July meeting when Kim Jong-un, who always accompanies Kim Tok-song in public events, criticized unnamed senior officials for not taking the flooding disaster seriously earlier, before August and thus delaying effective relief efforts.

The DPRK media reported that former Prime Minister Kim Tok-song (left) and current Prime Minister Kim Tok-hun (right) chaired the government's meeting on flood relief. But Kim Tok-song had already been removed from the post when the meeting was reported. Images via KCNA

However, the promotions of Kim Tok-hun and Pak may not be comparable: Kim Tok-hun was not "demoted." His former position as head of the state council, including being "in charge" of all government ministers, is now held by Pak Taech'ong as an acting position, according to North Korean media reports.

Kim Tok-hun kept one of the top central leadership positions and even gained one more at the plenum on December 29: he was transferred from Minister of State Affairs of the State Administrative Council to Secretary of the WPK, and Minister of Central People's Affairs.

Kim Tok-hun and Pak Taech'ong are almost of the same age: Kim was born around 1956 or 1957, according to the South Korean government. Kim's career seems to parallel that of the new Prime Minister. Although he did not work for the WPK Central Organization Guidance Department, Kim had served as Director of the WPK Central Committee of State Affairs. As a result, Pak and Kim worked in the same office under the leadership of then-Premier Pak Pong-ju in late 2016, and then in early March 2017 were together transferred to provinces to serve as provincial Party chiefs: Kim served in Chagang province, while Pak went to North Pyongan province.

According to Michael Madden, a North Korea insider from the Stimson Center, Kim Tok-hun was promoted for his outstanding performance in Chagang province and his good connections within the Party's leadership. Unlike other provincial chiefs, Kim was "called to the meeting of the Party Political Bureau" to share his views on several issues.

After serving as vice premier and deputy minister of central affairs, Kim became WPK Vice Chairman and was responsible for central affairs in January 2020. During Kim Jong-un's leadership, only a few officials concurrently held two or more top positions without additional responsibilities; Kim Tok-hun is one, as well as Kim Jong-gwan, who in 2020 became Vice Chairman of the WPK, First Vice Minister of National Defense, and then Director of State Affairs. According to Madden's description, Kim's role seems to parallel that of the WPK Central Organization Guidance Department. The promotion of Kim Tok-hun as Minister for State Affairs may have meant that Kim had gained a formal post in the organization department.

It is not known for sure if there is any political alliance between Kim Tok-hun and Pak Taech'ong. But, according to Madden, they do have similar work styles: both focus on economic construction and seem to be dedicated to economic revival and growth in their current work.

Since Kim Jong-un came to power in December 2011, there are no strict rules in terms of personnel selection in North Korea. Kim's wife Ri Sol-ju was promoted from being "respected" to being an influential political advisor. Several military officials, including vice marshals, gained more authority. The new premier Pak, who is not a military figure, has a "civilian" working style, with little interest in military affairs, according to South Korean media.

But there may still be some implicit criteria when it comes to selecting the most senior posts. From what the world knows so far about these criteria, those who gain positions similar to those of Prime Minister, including vice marshal and director of state affairs, usually have "good working performance" as Party and local chiefs. Pak and Kim may fit into these requirements. Unlike those "experts" from specialized departments like foreign affairs, who often fail in provincial work, Pak and Kim seem to perform well in both sectors.

Kim Tok-song, who was fired as prime minister in August 2020, worked as North Pyongan Party chief from 2011 to 2013; He then worked in central government departments for economic affairs, and as vice premier from 2017 to 2019. But his economic expertise was not well-received at South Hamgyong province, where he served from February 2020 as party chief until July 2020, when he became prime minister without any working experience in the localities.

Kim Tok-hun worked as Chagang province party chief from 2017 to 2020. When he was first promoted as Minister for State Affairs, his responsibilities included "overseeing and guiding the work of the local branches of the party." Pak Taech'ong worked as South Pyongan province chief between 2014 and 2017.

What Does Kim Want?

So, is North Korea now back to Kim Il-sung's time? In his book On Eliminating Dogmatism and Promoting Investigation and Study, written on August 1, 1930, in Manchuria, where the Korean communists fought against Japanese and imperial Chinese troops, Mao Zedong wrote, "Without investigation, there is no right to speak."

Kim Jong-un might want to do the same. According to KCNA's December 29 plenary report, Kim's speech was mainly about how to revive and strengthen the local Party organizations that had been seriously disrupted by the floods last July. The DPRK leaders seemed to think that Party members in the affected provinces were not organized properly, and many were unprepared to follow the Party's leadership; thus many senior officials who were responsible for these areas for flood management were removed. However, many senior officials who were removed from positions related to flood management, including Kim Hyong-gwan, a vice marshal and member of the Central Committee of the Party and member of National Defense Commission; Pak Hwa-song, vice marshal of Ministry of National Defense; Pak Kumsin from the National Emergency Headquarters in the state affairs department; and Kim Su-il, director of the state emergency headquarters, were not mentioned in Kim's report.

According to South Korean reports based on North Korean military sources, Pak Kumsin still holds his position as Director of the State Emergency Administration. Moreover, although the WPK Central Committee held an emergency meeting in August to punish some central officials who failed to prepare for flooding and thus worsened the disaster, Kim Jong-un had praised the work of some top generals, including the vice marshals Kim Myong-guk, Ri Pyong-chol and Ri Cho-gyong, during the inspection.

According to Kim Jong-un's reports to the Eighth Plenum, a new priority for central leadership will be to enhance the power of the local governments. Kim called the local Party branches of both Pyongyang and affected provinces "a major political problem, a top task of our party, biggest wish work, and the most front-line and urgent work of our revolution."

In his words, "We made a bold policy of transforming a backward area which has only been an ideal for nearly 80 years into a fairyland within a medium-term period, and also immediately put the whole country in the stage of thoroughly implementing it."

Kim is serious about it: "The challenges we must overcome and the tests we face in the remaining five-year plan period are severe and heavy. We still have a difficult path to tread in order to achieve the great historic cause that the WPK has clearly set out...The task of achieving comprehensive recovery and building better things from nothing in the provinces affected by the heavy rains is a tough and long one."

But he is also optimistic: "However, it's a