N. Korea's ruling party holds workshop to strengthen discipline

North Korea's ruling Workers' Party holds a three-day workshop on party discipline, Jan. 29-31. Yonhap

North Korea's ruling Workers' Party has hosted a workshop on party discipline for officials, state media said Thursday, in what appeared to be part of efforts to tighten its grip over its people.

During the three-day workshop held through Wednesday, officials in the "field of party discipline inspection" were encouraged to contribute to "establishing a strict discipline supervision system and a discipline-applying system throughout the whole party," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

The workshop also called on participants to carry out their "sacred mission" of discipline inspection as "standard-bearers and frontline soldiers" in building discipline for the party based on the idea of the Workers' Party Central Committee, the KCNA said.

Among key officials who attended the session was Choe Ryong-hae, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, it added.

The workshop comes as North Korea has been seeking to tighten its grip on residents to block the inflow of outside information especially as it reopened its border following strict pandemic closures.

North Korea's ruling party discussed an "important measure" to advance the establishment of party principles during a plenary meeting in June last year.

The reclusive country has also adopted laws aimed at strengthening internal control, including a law on "rejecting the reactionary ideology and culture" that bans people from distributing or watching media originating from South Korea, the United States and other countries.

"It seems to be circumstantial evidence that there is growing demand for internal control," an official at South Korea's unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs said. (Yonhap)