Kim Jong-Un Orders Crackdown On Officials Abusing Power Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

The supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-Un, and his top officials are pushing for a crackdown on government representatives as the country seeks greater internal unity to overcome the economic difficulties and challenges caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

What Happened: In the Workers' Party of Korea meeting, Kim sounded an alarm to crack down on officials who abuse their power and commit other "unsound and non-revolutionary acts," North Korean state-owned media KCNA Watch reported.

The senior party secretaries of the secretive nation discussed "waging a more intensive struggle against unsound and non-revolutionary acts including abuse of power and bureaucratism revealed among some party officials."

According to the state media, the supreme leader ordered the top deputies of the party's auditing commission and other local discipline supervision systems to be bolstered to promote the party's "monolithic leadership" and "the broad political activities of the party through the strong discipline system."

Why It Matters: North Korea is facing its first-ever wave of COVID-19 since the pandemic originated in 2019. As of June 13, the total number of fevered persons is over 4 million, of which at least 65,230 are under medical treatment.

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