North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the ruling party's congress in Pyongyang on January 9, 2021. -

/ AP / SIPA

In order to consolidate his power a little more, Kim Jong-un symbolically changed his hat.

The North Korean leader was elected general secretary of the ruling Workers' Party of which he was until now and since 2016 the president, the official KCNA news agency announced on Monday.

Analysts say the name change is aimed at bolstering its authority as North Korea suffers from chronic mismanagement of its economy and is more isolated than ever due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A "unanimous" vote

The 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), which opened on January 5 in Pyongyang, re-established a secretariat, which was abandoned in 2016, and changed job titles accordingly.

And it was "unanimously" that the North Korean leader was elected secretary general, KCNA reported.

"All the delegates expressed their full support" with a round of applause, the official North Korean agency said.

This change of title comes as Kim Jong-un pledged on January 6 during the congress to strengthen the defense capabilities of the country, already a nuclear power.

There was also the observation of the failure of its economic policy, admitting that "almost all sectors" had not achieved their objectives.

The title change "is another indirect way of admitting that the plans introduced in 2016, including the new president system, have not really worked," commented Ahn Chan-il, researcher at the World Institute of North Korean studies from Seoul.

"Kim wanted to shape a new image (…) different from that of his father - by becoming a 'president' - but it seems that he feels the need to emphasize his bond with his father to consolidate his leadership in these difficult times" , he explained.

Kim Jong-un's father, Kim Jong-il, who died in 2011, remained the party's eternal general secretary, while his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, founder of North Korea and who died in 1994, is the chairman. eternal country.

Strengthen the authority of the regime

The Workers' Party Congress also appointed a new political bureau that does not include Kim Yo Jong, younger sister and Kim Jong-un's advisor.

High mass of the ruling party, the congress aims to strengthen the authority of the regime and is closely followed by experts from North Korea, who try to detect any sign of a shift in the policy of one of the countries most isolated in the world.

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