North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his top deputies have pushed for a crackdown on officials who abuse their power and commit other “unsound and non-revolutionary acts,” state media reported Monday, as Kim seeks greater internal unity to overcome a COVID-19 outbreak and economic difficulties. It wasn’t clear what specific acts were mentioned at the ruling Workers’ Party meeting on Sunday. Kim and other senior party secretaries discussed “waging a more intensive struggle against unsound and non-revolutionary acts including abuse of power and bureaucratism revealed among some party officials,” the official Korean Central News Agency said. The North’s elevated restrictions on movement in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak could cause a further strain on the country’s economic difficulties, some experts say. Foreign experts widely doubt the outbreak was North Korea’s first, and they believe the statistics being disclosed in state media are manipulated to prevent political damage to Kim while bolstering internal control and promoting his leadership.

Source: The North Africa Journal June 14, 2022 00:31 UTC