North Korean House of Cards

security establishment. 310 Like the NDC, it is not clear that the CMC meets on
a regular basis. The only evidence of meetings to reach the outside world was the
handful of photographs in North Korean media of expanded meetings in February
2013, August 2013, April 2014, and February 2015, all of which were chaired by
Kim Jong-un. 311
5. Kim Jong-un’s Leadership Style
Decision-making is not just about setting agendas and convening meetings.
In North Korea’s leader-centered system, the Supreme Leader’s personality,
demeanor, and leadership style impacts how decisions are made. It is a system that
makes it difficult for regents and advisors to keep a leader focused on a set of issues
or priorities. Policy can be made at the Supreme Leader’s whim; he can sidestep
any formal processes that are in place to guide and inform his decision-making. In
addition, since the regime depends on the Supreme Leader’s input in order to
function, his work ethic and attention to detail have a dramatic impact on the
efficiency of the policymaking process.
A well-worn refrain from Pyongyang-watchers and government officials
is that the international community had developed a certain understanding of
how Kim Jong-il operated. No matter how serious the crisis seemed on the surface,
there was a sense that a pragmatic and calculating decision maker was operating
behind the scenes in Pyongyang. From what has been reported about Kim Jong-il’s
leadership style, this may have been the case on some occasions, but the reality is
more complex. He was an introverted, solitary decision maker. He relied on his own
reading of official reports, the foreign press, and even the Internet to inform his
310 The CMC relies on a number of organizations to carry out its mandate, including the KPA
General Political Department, the KWP Military Department, and the KWP MID. The CMC also uses
the KWP Civil Defense Department to transmit guidance and indoctrination to North Korea’s reserve
military training units.
311 Photographs of the February 2013 meeting did not appear at the time. On March 5, 2013,
North Korean state media released a documentary film that focused on Kim Jong-un’s interactions with
the armed forces. Loosely translated as Unleashing a New Heyday of the Formidable Forces of Mt. Paektu,
the eighty-minute film consists mainly of footage that had previously appeared in short documentaries
about Kim Jong-un’s activities. Tacked on to these activities was footage of the CMC meeting of February
3, 2013. For a more detailed discussion of the meeting, see Michael Madden, “CMC Meetings Shown
in DPRK Documentary on Kim Jong Un’s Military Activities,” North Korea Leadership Watch, March 18,
2013. As for the Sunday, August 25, 2013 meeting, Nodong Sinmun carried photographs of the event. See
Nodong Sinmun, August 26, 2013.
Ken E. Gause
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