North Korean state media hailed Kim Jong-Un as the "Great Sun of the 21st Century" as the country made final preparations for a rare ruling party congress seen as the young leader's formal coronation. Getting ready for the rare gathering -- the first of its kind for nearly 40 years -- has involved mobilising the entire country in a 70-day campaign that only ended on Monday, May 2.
After four years of top-level reshuffles, purges and executions, Kim Jong-Un will formally cement his unassailable status as North Korea's supreme leader at a landmark ruling party congress this week.
The first gathering of its kind for nearly 40 years is really a coronation of sorts -- recognising the young 33-year-old leader as the legitimate inheritor of the dynastic dictatorship started by his grandfather Kim Il-Sung and passed down through his late father Kim Jong-Il. "This congress means everything for Kim Jong-Un," said John Delury, a North Korea expert at Yonsei University in Seoul. "It is the most public, historic setting in which he can demonstrate that he is fully in charge, and that everyone follows his orders," Delury said.
Kim wasn't even born when the last congress was held in 1980 to crown his father as the heir apparent to founding leader Kim Il-Sung. When his own turn came, following the death of Kim Jong-Il in December 2011, there were numerous doubters who suggested the Swiss finishing school graduate lacked the survival skills needed for the Machiavellian world of North Korean power politics. But he proved them wrong, purging the party, government and powerful military of those seen as disloyal, and displaying a ruthless streak that notably led to the execution of his powerful uncle, and one-time political mentor, Jang Song-Thaek. He also adjusted his father's "songun", or military first policy, to a "byungjin" policy of pursuing nuclear weapons in tandem with economic development.
The ruling party's official mouthpiece, the Rodong Sinmun daily, said the coming congress was a "sacred" event that would enshrine Kim's achievements, from infrastructure projects to developing submarine-launched ballistic missiles. These were victories won, the newspaper said, through a national struggle against UN sanctions over the North's nuclear programme, the threat posed by US-South Korea military drills and international criticism of the North's human rights record.
The nuclear half of that strategy has dominated the run-up to the party congress, starting with a fourth nuclear test in January that was followed by a long-range rocket launch and a flurry of other missile and weapons tests. But there was an embarrassing stumble in the home straight, with the failure in recent weeks of three separate efforts to test fire a powerful, new mid-range ballistic missile capable of striking US bases on the Pacific island of Guam. One final act might still play out before the party gathering begins on May 6, with many predicting a fifth nuclear test to underline the North's status as a genuine nuclear power.
Then, once the congress gets underway, comes the question of what, beyond Kim's leadership qualities, the gathering will seek to spotlight. The optimist's scenario is that, with a confirmed nuclear deterrent in the bag, Kim will announce that the North's security is ensured and the focus can now switch to the other half of his "byungjin" strategy -- economic development.
In his very first public address, at a military parade in April 2012, Kim had said he was determined that North Koreans would "never have to tighten their belts again". The need to raise living standards has been a constant refrain of his annual New Year addresses, although analysts note that they have been largely devoid of any specific policy initiatives. So while the party congress does provide the platform for a genuine policy shift, it can just as easily become a stage for tired, self-congratulatory rhetoric that offers little in the way of change.
Whatever the tone, the content of the speeches, especially Kim's keynote address, will be closely scrutinised as will any personnel changes, with analysts looking for a younger crop of officials to take over leadership positions. The North's chief diplomatic ally, China, which has become increasingly frustrated with Pyongyang's refusal to restrain its nuclear ambitions, will be among the closest observers.
State media, meanwhile, have been busy during the 70-day campaign running endless stories extolling examples of individual selflessness and sacrifice. One farming couple volunteered to keep working on their wedding day, the Rodong Sinmun proclaimed, while a woman security guard insisted on turning up for duty the day after her husband died.
