This essay assumes that Kim Jeong Un has used the Party-Military relation in order to accomplish a stable transition of the regime. A research on the nK’s Party-Military relation is significant as it not only provides an insight on its political structure, but also on the leadership’s direction of his management. There can be several methods for analysing nK Party-Military relations, however this particular essay focuses on the analysis through influential military elites within the nK’s political party and military branches.
Kim Jeong Il, with the collapse of Soviet Union and its comrades, economic crisis, and instability of his society, has intended to overcome nK’s internal and external crises through the fortification of its military. Furthermore, in the face of extreme food shortage, posing a vivid threat to his regime’s very existence, Kim Jeong Il desperately needed a physical strength of the military to secure his regime’s survival and that of his successor. The ‘military-first policy’developed by Kim Jeong Il’s greed to hold his regime, has strengthened the military’s influence over political arena, and weakened the Party.
However, Kim Jeong Un, unlike his father, is shrinking the influence of military and granting the Party with more power and influence. Through this manipulation of Party-Military relation, Kim Jeong Un is gradually stabilizing his newly established regime.
Through the 3rd and 4th Conference of party delegates, Kim Jeong Un has reinforced the foundation of his regime and shifted the structure of his Party accordingly. Moreover, in the military sense, major functions and authorities, which lied with National Defense Commission and the Central Military Committee of the nKorea Workers’ Party, have been strengthened.
Along such changes, Kim Jeong Un has newly appointed number of important military positions, and repeatedly demoted and promoted the pre-existing military generals to eliminate potential threats to guarantee a safe path for his emerging regime.
This fierce discipline by Kim Jeong Un is being implemented in order to reorganize the fundamental principles of military branch, and safely claim his control at the same time. KJU’s firm grip of the military, which allows the Party for expansion of its authority, can be seen as his attempt to prevent dysfunctions within the governments, and thus stably maintain the regime.
Also, his strategic ‘demotion and promotions’ of high ranking officers in the military is an another method of control the military, and inducing his military elite to promise everlasting loyalty to the young leader.
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