North Korean leader declares 'total war' on corruption in his country

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared a comprehensive war against the abuse of power, bureaucracy, violations, and corruption in his country, during a rare meeting that brought together the ruling party and the military in Pyongyang. Kim condemned the involvement of a senior military official who had been dismissed by the ruling party for accepting bribes, pointing to what he described as the serious nature of corrupt practices. According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the North Korean leader stressed that “all officials must uphold principle and integrity as their lifeline,” adding, “We must keep in mind the trust of the Party and think of the people first.”

Earlier, KCNA had revealed that an official named Pak He-chol, former deputy director of the General Political Department of the Korean People’s Army, had received “large sums of bribes,” adding that the ruling party had removed him from its Central Committee leadership and referred him to the relevant authorities for his involvement in various forms of corruption. The official agency’s report also stated that Pak “over the past four years spent in his position as an official in the political apparatus, cultivated a cult of personality around himself, while indulging in all kinds of abuse of power and arbitrariness, accepting hefty bribes from corrupt elements obsessed with greed and a thirst for high-ranking positions, and embezzling their funds.”

Delivering harsh public criticism of senior officials, especially from the supreme leader, is a rare occurrence under North Korea’s system of governance.