North Korea: "Coercion & Temptation Cannot Win the People's Hearts"... Calls for Change in Cadre Attitudes

Mobilizing Public Sentiment Ahead of the 80th Anniversary of Party Founding and End of the 5-Year Economic Development Plan

Kim Jong Un Declares Stance on US and South Korea at Supreme People's Assembly (Seoul=Yonhap News) Kim Jong Un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, strictly analyzed the trends of the situation on the Korean Peninsula and surrounding areas at the Supreme People's Assembly on the 21st, and declared the government's principled stance on the US and South Korea, according to Korean Central Television on the 22nd. [Screen capture from Korean Central Television] 2025.9.22

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North Korea has urged its cadres to stand with and work for the people, ahead of the 80th anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea (October 10th).

In a front-page article titled "Absolute Faith in the People, Absolute Trust from the People are the Source of the Korean Workers' Party's Invincible Strength," the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers' Party, stated on the 25th that "the people's hearts cannot be won through coercion or temptation."

The newspaper pointed out that "even if a party is founded with the aim of defending and realizing the people's interests, if it deviates from its fundamental ideology and mission over a long period of rule and becomes authoritarian, its mass base will weaken, shaking its foundations, and the party's once glorious existence will be relegated to past history in textbooks."

This article was published amid Kim Jong Un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission, severely interrogating and disciplining cadres during the 13th session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly held on the 21st-22nd.

In his speech at the time, Kim instructed that "subjectivity, impulsiveness, self-serving tendencies, and vanity among economic guidance officials (cadres) must be eliminated, and irresponsibility, ignorance, and incompetence must be eradicated," demanding concrete countermeasures.

Kim also criticized the delayed completion of the Pyongyang General Hospital during his on-site guidance on the 23rd, citing "confusion caused by the vanity of some leading cadres in the Cabinet" as the reason.

He stated that it was wrong for cadres to have collected money from residents to supplement construction costs instead of properly executing the budget, and ordered that the money be returned to the donors without fail.

He also mentioned that a nationwide donation drive was underway for participants of overseas operational units deployed to Russia's Kursk Oblast and their families, but he ordered the return of these donations, stating that caring for them is the responsibility of the Party and the state.

Kim's crackdown on cadre discipline appears to stem from the judgment that the entrenched problems of arrogance and bribery among public officials in North Korean society could lead to a loss of public trust.

As this year marks the 80th anniversary of the Party's founding and the final year of the 5-year economic development plan, the intention is to placate public sentiment and foster internal unity to achieve results in key projects. Yonhap News