The Ninth Congress of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea was held in Pyongyang on May 11 and 12.

The congress analysed and reviewed in depth the work done by the GFTUK during the period under review and discussed the practical tasks and ways for the federation to fully discharge its mission and role as an organization in charge of ideological education in implementing the decisions of the Ninth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea by radically improving its work as required by the era of comprehensive development.

Present there were the members of the 8th GFTUK central leadership and delegates elected by trade union organizations at all levels.

Officials of the Party, armed forces organs, ministries and national agencies and officials concerned were on hand as observers.

The platform was taken by Kim Jae Ryong and Ri Il Hwan, members of the Presidium of the Political Bureau and secretaries of the WPK Central Committee, Ju Chang Il, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the Central Committee of the WPK, Kim Tok Hun, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the WPK and first vice-premier of the Cabinet, executive members of the Central Committee of the GFTUK, chairpersons of the provincial committees of the GFTUK, exemplary trade union officials and members and officials in charge of the trade union work of armed forces organs.

The congress elected the presidium and the secretariat.

The agenda items discussed at the congress are as follows:

1. Review of the Work of the Central Committee of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea

2. On the Revision of the GFTUK Rules

3. Election of the Central Leadership of the GFTUK

Kim Jae Ryong read out a congratulatory letter of the Central Committee of the WPK to the participants in the Ninth Congress of the GFTUK and all the workers and trade union members across the country.

The WPK Central Committee in the letter said that the period under review of the GFTUK is shining with the pride and honour of the trade union organizations and their officials and workers who injected vigour and vitality into the advance of the Korean revolution by turning out as one to live up to the expectations of the Party Central Committee which put them forward in the vanguard of the struggle for fresh upswing and development in socialist construction, and highly appreciated their responsible and devoted efforts for it.

The period of the new five-year plan is a very important period when the patriotic enthusiasm and practical ability of the working class and trade union members, who are intensely loyal to the cause of the Party and the state and their responsibility as the eldest son of the country, should be redoubled, the letter said, indicating the basic tasks and ways for the GFTUK in inspiring the working people to perform proud feats from the first year of implementing the decisions of the Ninth Congress of the WPK.

Ri Won Jong, chairman of the Central Committee of the GFTUK, made a report on the first agenda item.

The reporter reviewed the work of the 8th GFTUK Central Committee.

He referred to the fact that the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un put forward the working class and trade union members as the vanguard and backbone unit that is taking the lead in ushering in a new era of upsurge for the comprehensive national prosperity, and developed the GFTUK into an ideologically pure and organizationally integrated entity for the past five years.

He noted that a great upsurge in production has been brought about and unprecedented successes achieved in increasing production in the major fields of implementing the five-year plan set forth by the Eighth Congress of the WPK thanks to the patriotic devotion and extraordinary creativity of the working class and trade union members.

He said that true to the intention of the Party Central Committee to prepare the GFTUK to be a revolutionary organization by preserving its nature as a mass-based political organization of the working class, the GFTUK has attached importance to its internal work and raised a strong wind of enhancing its fighting efficiency and strengthening its primary organizations.

All the successes achieved during the period under review are a brilliant fruition of the wise leadership of the respected Comrade General Secretary Kim Jong Un who led the workers in every aspect of their work to make them remain faithful to the historic mission they assumed before the Party and the country, the times and the revolution, the reporter stressed.

He called for bringing about a radical improvement in the GFTUK work as required by the era of comprehensive development.

The report analysed and reviewed a series of deviations revealed by trade union organizations at all levels during the period under review and their causes on the basis of detailed data and indicated practical ways for putting the GFTUK work on the track of new qualitative development.

The reporter called for more dynamically conducting the revolutionary mass movement, the socialist patriotic movement, to arouse the enthusiasm, initiative and ingenuity of the trade union members and make miracles and innovations on all fronts of economic construction.

Speeches were made on the first agenda item.

Twenty delegates including Kong Un Chol, delegate of the trade union organization of South Hamgyong Province, Ri Kwang Dok, delegate of the trade union organization of the Pyongyang Construction Commission, and Kim Yong Chol, delegate of the trade union organization of the Ministry of Railways made speeches or presented written speeches.

The congress discussed the revision of the GFTUK rules as its second agenda item.

There was a report on the revision of the trade union rules.

The reporter submitted the rules to be revised for deliberation at the congress.

The congress adopted a decision on the revision of the rules with full approval.

The congress discussed the election of the central leadership of the GFTUK as the third agenda item.

First, the Central Committee of the GFTUK was elected.

All the candidates were elected members and alternate members of the GFTUK Central Committee with the unanimous approval of the delegates.

The First Plenary Meeting of the Ninth Central Committee of the GFTUK was held.

Ju Chang Il, secretary of the Central Committee of the WPK, made public a decision of the plenary meeting.

The Executive Committee of the GFTUK Central Committee was elected.

Ri Won Jong was elected chairman of the Central Committee of the GFTUK and Choe Jong Chol, Choe Song Nam, Pak Yang Thae and Kim Song Ho were elected vice-chairmen.

The Organizing Committee of the Central Committee of the GFTUK was formed.

The chairperson, vice-chairpersons and members of the Central Inspection Commission of the GFTUK were elected.

Department directors of the Central Committee of the GFTUK were appointed.

The congress elected a committee for drafting the decisions of the congress with members of the newly elected ninth central leadership of the GFTUK, and the committee deliberated the realistic and constructive opinions raised by delegates and supplemented the draft decision.

The decisions of the Ninth Congress of the GFTUK were adopted with unanimous approval.

A letter of pledge to the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un was adopted at the congress.

KCNA