The first short course for chief secretaries of the city and county Party committees, which is of great significance in thoroughly implementing the Party's line on and policy of strengthening cities and counties as required by a new stage of development of socialist construction, continued on March 4.

Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, guided the course.

Ri Hang Gol, chief secretary of the Yonthan County Party Committee, Ko Ju Gwang, chief secretary of the Hoeryong City Party Committee, Pong Song Gwon, chief secretary of the Hyongjesan District Party Committee, Ri Pyong Guk, chief secretary of the Huichon City Party Committee, Ri Yong Sang, chief secretary of the Jangjin County Party Committee, Ri Kyong Chol, chief secretary of the Ichon County Party Committee, and Sin Myong Son, chief secretary of the Unsan County Party Committee, in their speeches referred to the successes and experience gained in the Party work, economic work, improvement of the people's standards of living and development of education in their cities and counties.

They said that when they give full play to the loyalty to the Party cherished in the hearts of the people and positively apply the people-first principle to the Party work, they can remove obstacles, difficulties and backwardness and bring about marked changes in the development of cities and counties by dint of the inexhaustible might and wisdom of the masses of the people in any unfavourable conditions and circumstances.

Hwang Yong Chol, chief secretary of the Unnyul County Party Committee, O Tok Chol, chief secretary of the Munchon City Party Committee, Kim Myong Il, chief secretary of the Sunam District Party Committee, An Myong Sik, chief secretary of the Taedong County Party Committee, Kim Jin Sam, chief secretary of the Hwangju County Party Committee, Sin Myong Su, chief secretary of the Hyesan City Party Committee, Kang Myong Ho, chief secretary of the Songyo District Party Committee, Ri Kuk Song, chief secretary of the Yodok County Party Committee, Kim Sung Il, chief secretary of the Singye County Party Committee, Pak Il Nam, chief secretary of the Sinam District Party Committee, Paek Kwang Chol, chief secretary of the Phyonggang County Party Committee, Han Chol, chief secretary of the Pochon County Party Committee, Kang Ho Yong, chief secretary of the Chongdan County Party Committee, and Ho Myong Chol, chief secretary of the Maengsan County Party Committee, analysed the shortcomings and deviations revealed in their work and in the work of their city and county Party committees in the past from the critical point of view.

They expressed their will to bring about decisive changes in their Party work by overcoming such problems as having worked in an administrative and practical manner while disregarding the Party's internal work and the work with the people, having scratched the surface of the work for strengthening basic Party organizations, having failed to boost the economic life of cities and counties while talking big without giving proper Party guidance over the administrative and economic work, having failed to improve the people's standards of living due to lack of the spirit of unconditionally serving the people and having failed to acquire mental and moral traits as befitting the officials of the WPK.

At the meeting, sharp criticism was given to the officials who have revealed serious mistakes as they failed to responsibly carry out the work of their city and county Party committees.

General Secretary Kim Jong Un made an important concluding speech.

Saying that improving the work of city and county Party committees now presents itself as a more important issue in strengthening the entire Party, enhancing its leadership function and role and accelerating the development of cities and counties, he noted that only when the city and county Party committees across the country fulfil their mission and role, can the overall work of the Party and the state go well and the overall development of Korean-style socialism be promoted.

He said that if the Party Central Committee is the supreme General Staff of the Korean revolution, the city and county Party committees are the political general staff organizing and guiding every work in their areas, and success or failure of the work of the city and county Party committees holding such an important position entirely depends on the ability and activities of their chief secretaries.

He set forth important tasks and ways for enhancing the role of chief secretaries in intensifying the Party work and developing cities and counties.

He underscored the need to direct efforts to internal Party work before anything else to firmly cement the revolutionary position, class position.

Saying that internal Party work is an important part of the Party work for strengthening the WPK organizationally and ideologically, training the officials and Party members to be fighters faithful to the Party and revolution and rallying all the people closely around the Party to vigorously stimulate them to implement Party policies, he noted that the chief secretaries should keep up the internal Party work as an iron rule and main task whatever difficulties.

Special efforts should be directed to building up the ranks of cadres, he said, specifying the tasks to be tackled in forming the ranks of cadres with elite ones by strictly observing the Party principles, revolutionary principles in the personnel administration and improving the personnel administration system in an innovative way to this end.

He referred the need to conduct the work of increasing Party membership and control over the Party ranks in a responsible manner, strengthen basic Party organizations and effectively organize and guide the Party life of officials and Party members.

He said that the chief secretaries should bear in mind the intention of the Party Central Committee which attaches importance to basic Party organizations and turn the work with primary Party committees and Party cells into that of the city and county Party committees, thus leading the basic Party organizations well to improve their work as required by the developing reality.

He said that as it is a main link of the whole chain of the Party work and a guarantee for consolidating the Party ranks organizationally and ideologically to intensify Party life, the city and county Party committees should make sure that the basic Party organizations organize the organizational and ideological life of Party members like meeting for review of their life and study of the Party's line and policies in a regular and effective way and steadily improve the method of conducting Party meetings to raise the level of Party life of officials and Party members.

He stressed the need for them to pay particular attention to intensifying the study of the newly-amended Rules of the Party and the Explanations about the Rules of the Party, establishing the habit of thoroughly observing the rules in the whole Party and orienting the organization of and guidance to Party life to the implementation of the decisions made at the Party congress.

Referring to the importance of consolidating the class position in the rural communities by strengthening the rural Party work, he said that the city and county Party Committees should build up the ranks of rural junior officials like secretaries of ri Party committees and chairpersons of farm management boards and strengthen the Party guidance to enhance their role and sense of responsibility.

He noted that the chief secretaries of city and county Party committees should not lay stress only on the farming in their guidance to rural areas, but concentrate on pushing ahead with the three revolutions and boosting the work of ri Party committees.

He stressed that city and county Party organizations should constantly seek and apply effective methods of educating and awakening the masses so as to make the revolutionary and sound way of life definitely prevail in the whole society and turn the struggle for suppressing and eradicating anti-socialist and non-socialist practices into the work of the masses themselves.

He said the chief secretaries should strengthen guidance and control over the departments of city and county Party committees to correctly organize and conduct every work of cities and counties as intended by the Party Central Committee and should inspire officials, Party members and other working people to successfully carry out the revolutionary tasks facing their cities and counties, before setting forth concrete tasks to that end.

Since they are leading Party officials responsible for the overall work of relevant areas, including politics, the economy, military and culture, the chief secretaries of city and county Party committees should decisively enhance their political and practical qualifications and work ability and steadily improve their style of work and personality traits, he stressed, and went on:

The most important criterion for the chief secretaries, the chief delegates of the Party Central Committee, is the strong Party spirit and political and practical qualifications.

The chief secretaries of city and county Party committees should make strenuous and purposeful efforts to be well versed in the ideas and line of the Party so as to be well informed about Party policies, and make the whole process of organizing and reviewing work a course of education to implant the policies in the minds of officials as their faith.

At the same time, they should strive to be conversant with the actual affairs related to Party work and acquire many-sided knowledge and high cultural attainments.

In the present times when we are going to make all cities and counties across the country develop in an independent and many-sided way, the qualifications of their chief secretaries precisely mean their level of development.

Their chief secretaries should make energetic and strenuous efforts not only to be well versed in Party policies and actual affairs related to Party work but to acquire advanced technologies and knowledge about agriculture, industry, architecture, land management, education, public health and other fields, which are directly connected with the development of their cities and counties.

Noting that the people actually perceive the dignity and prestige of the Party Central Committee and the love and trust of the motherly Party through the county Party committees, through the working method and style of their chief secretaries in particular, Kim Jong Un repeatedly stressed the need for the chief secretaries to definitely improve their working method, style and manner.

It is the most general and basic requirements for making our Party maintain its mode of existence and revolutionary Party traits and realize the people-first politics that county Party committees should become the parental home to which the people come to open their hearts and the committees which take root deep among the people and that their chief secretaries should become the “mothers” of counties, he said.

He strictly pointed out the practices devoid of loyalty to the Party and revolution, devotion to the people, respect for comrades and sincere attitude towards work which are being revealed in the work and life of some chief secretaries, and cleared up their ideological origin.

He told the chief secretaries to train and cultivate themselves in a revolutionary and thoroughgoing way and become examples of cadres and Party members in terms of loyalty to the Party and revolution above all.

He also said that the chief secretaries should be the first to grasp and apply the proper methods of Party work for rousing Party organizations and members to action and prioritizing political work and educate their subordinate officials with practical examples.

Kim Jong Un underscored the need for the chief secretaries of city and county Party committees to apply efficient methods of mass work.

He said that they should naturally become standard-bearers and models in applying the Party's popular character and people-first politics, calling on them to become genuine Party officials who prioritize the work of eliminating the people’s suffering in living, treat everyone like their own parents and children and know how to read their minds from their eyes, expression and common words and take due measures.

And he stressed that they should find themselves among the masses to depend on them, stimulate their spiritual strength and wisdom and achieve successes in work on that strength by following the Party's traditional methods of mass work.

He said that they should become examples for the masses in all aspects including speech, conduct and moral features and, to this end, they should not regard themselves as the privileged, but respect their subordinates and the people anywhere and anytime and honour revolutionary seniors.

He noted that the chief secretaries should become examples in observing the proprieties, always bearing in mind the dignity and prestige of the Party Central Committee, which dispatched them, and the revolutionary climate of the Party.

They should not abuse power and indulge in bureaucracy, irregularities and corruption but be honest in their work and life, he said, stressing the need for them to remain upright before the Party and people, keep their families and relatives from seeking after selfish interests and desires and hold under strict control all the officials in their counties to keep them from abusing power and indulging in bureaucracy, irregularities and corruption.

Noting that the chief secretaries should bring definite and actual results in the economic work of their cities and counties and the improvement of the people's living standards by scrupulously planning and guiding the work to implement the tasks set forth at the Eighth Party Congress and the Second Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Party Central Committee, he continued:

The primary economic task for the chief secretaries of the city and county Party committees is to decisively increase agricultural production.

They should always attach importance to vigorously rousing agricultural officials and workers to the struggle for carrying out the Party's agricultural policy and concentrate the Party-wide efforts on it.

They should raise strong demand to make cooperative farm management committees of their cities and counties map out farming plans in a scientific and detailed way in conformity with their regional characters and thoroughly carry them out, and help the management committees substantially guide the farming of their cities and counties by supporting their authority in work.

In particular, it is necessary to wage an intensive struggle for getting rid of the habit of talking big taking root deep in the agricultural sector.

It is the natural duty of the chief secretaries to spruce up their counties and make their residents well off, he said, emphasizing the need to map out a realistic plan for sprucing up their cities, county towns and rural villages as required by the civilization of the times and rely on their own skilled working forces and construction equipment in dynamically pushing ahead with local construction.

He called for taking advantages of their own natural and geographical conditions to revitalize local industrial establishments and increase the production of consumer goods and for improving the people's living standards by promoting animal husbandry including the raising of grass-eating domestic animals and breeding fishes.

He told the chief secretaries about detailed ways of working out correct strategy to develop their cities and counties and improve the people's standards of living and of making the most of their economic foundations and potentials.

He stressed that the chief secretaries shouldering the heaviest tasks in upholding the great people should certainly become genuine revolutionaries and communists and, to this end, they should make constant efforts to share the idea, intention and will with the Party Central Committee.

He expressed the belief that the short course would serve as an occasion for the chief secretaries to further develop their discrimination and heighten their political consciousness and revolutionary zeal and thus they would take a fresh stride in turning their cities and counties into well-off and civilized socialist paradises.

They should bear in mind that this year, too, we are faced with gigantic tasks, conditions are unfavourable and the people's expectations for the Party and their desire are greater than ever before, he said, adding that it is high time to thoroughly maintain the correct line set forth by the Party Central Committee and provide correct political leadership. That is why the responsibilities given to the chief secretaries of the city and county Party committees are very heavy yet important, he stressed again and again.

He ardently called on the chief secretaries, who are filled with surging excitement and fresh confidence, to join efforts to fight for the great Party and great people.

The short course continues.