SEOUL, South Korea — On the streets of Pyongyang, posters depict workers soaring into the sky alongside a long-range rocket, part of a 150-day campaign to spur North Koreans to work harder by instilling them with national pride.
Some suspect the push is not just a “let’s work harder” drive but a political campaign designed to cement national unity as the regime sets the stage for the communist nation’s next leader.
North Korea launched a rocket April 5 in defiance of international calls for restraint. On Monday, the regime tested a nuclear bomb underground. A day later, several missiles were test- launched, efforts began to restart an idled nuclear reactor complex and South Korea was threatened with war.
While world powers debate how to punish the regime, analysts say Pyong yang also may have another audience in mind: its own people.
Cheong Seong-Chang of the Sejong Institute, a South Korean security think tank, believes North Korea is using the 150-day campaign to parade its achievements in a bid to bolster national pride.
“It’s politically driven,” he said.
The five-month campaign is set to culminate in early October, about the time of the anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers Party. North Korea could then hold a national convention to announce a successor to aging leader Kim Jong-Il, Cheong said.
“I think the campaign is aimed at building up achievements that the successor can later claim credit for,” he said.
Kim, 67, reportedly suffered a stroke in August 2008, sparking regional concerns about instability and a possible power struggle if he died without naming a successor. He has three grown sons but has not said publicly who will become head of the nation of 24 million.
His eldest son, Kim Jong-Nam, appeared to fall from favor after he was caught trying to sneak into Japan on a fake Dominican passport, allegedly to get to Disneyland.
A former employee of Kim’s said the leader considers his middle son, Kim Jong-Chol, as too effeminate. Most analysts, including Cheong, think Kim’s youngest son, 26-year-old Kim Jong-Un, is his favorite and has the best chance of succeeding the authoritarian leader.
Kim must address three main issues before his health worsens: establishing security by normalizing relations with the U.S., strengthening the economy and naming a successor.
“The nuclear test shows that Kim feels he’s running out of time,” said Kim Yong-Hyun of Seoul’s Dongguk University. The underground blast was a bold gambit to dramatically raise tensions, and perhaps panic the U.S. into offering aid, he said.
North Korea also is holding two U.S. journalists accused of entering the country illegally in March. They are to stand trial June 4.
“He wants to settle all problems through a package deal with the U.S.,” he said. “That’s why he is putting forward all his negotiating cards.”
