【中国观察2021年1月12日讯】朝鲜劳动党周日（1月10日）举行中央委员会选举，制定该国未来五年的外交、军事和经济政策目标。
据朝鲜官媒朝中社公布的名单显示，金与正虽然仍是中央委员会委员，但未被列入政治局。
金与正在2017年成为朝鲜政府注重男性体制下仅有的第二位女性高官，继她的姑姑金敬姬之后，加入政治局。韩国情报机构曾在2020年8月表示，金与正是她哥哥“实质上的二把手”。
但首尔庆南大学朝鲜研究教授林欧哲（Lim Eul-chul）认为，金与正在政治局名单上缺席是好坏参半，事情刚好发生在第8届全国代表大会会议开始，她首次与38名党的高层人物一起登上领导台的几天之后。林欧哲告诉路透社：“现在对她的（政治）身份下结论还为时过早，因为她还是中央委员，而且有可能担任了其它重要职务。”
美国史汀生中心的朝鲜问题专家迈克·马登（Michael Madden）则表示，无论金与正是否在政治局，她都享有最高程度的政策影响力，“我们已经习惯于看到她扮演更公开的角色，但金与正的政治根基和她的职业经历是在幕后，而不是坐在台上听演讲。”
朝鲜一个人的规则
领导人金正恩在大会上巩固了自己的权力，他当选为党总书记，从他已故的父亲金正日那里接过这个头衔。朝中社报导称，大会“完全批准”金正恩担任这一职务的提案，称其为“革命的最高首脑”，是“领导和团结的中心”。
金正恩表示，他将扩大外交，誓言发展包括“多弹头”洲际弹道导弹在内的武器，并称美国是“最大的敌人”。
首尔北韩大学院大学教授梁茂进（Yang Moo-jin）说，“金正恩显示了他的自信，他现在已经正式加入了他父亲和祖父的行列”，但“这也说明他的战略意图是把党的制度集中在他的周围，加强他的独裁统治。”
朝鲜问题专家马登则认为，“朝鲜目前的运行只是一个部落，而金正恩希望它像君主制一样运作。”
另一个在这次会议上迅速崛起的人物——赵甬元（Jo Yong-won），也是值得关注的角色。
此外，在筹备2019年与美国总统川普（特朗普）峰会中发挥了重要作用的朝鲜外务省副相崔善姬（Choe Son Hui）被降职。
与此同时，在美国当选总统拜登准备上任之际，韩国总统文在寅承诺将努力帮助策划陷入僵局的无核化谈判取得突破。前朝鲜外交官、现为韩国国会议员的太永浩（Tae Yong-ho）说，金正恩对更先进武器的呼吁表明，如果他对交易持开放态度，那很可能是一项军控协议，而不是完全无核化。
太永浩接受采访时说，“他（金正恩）希望向即将上任的拜登政府传递一个非常强烈的信息。”
Kim Yo-Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. (JORGE SILVA/AFP via Getty Images)
North Korean state media reported Monday (Jan. 11) that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's own sister, Kim Yo Jong, who remains a member of the Central Committee, was unexpectedly left off the list of candidates for the Politburo, seemingly calling into question her status after Kim's growing influence in recent years.
The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) held central committee elections on Sunday (Jan. 10) to set the country's foreign, military and economic policy goals for the next five years.
According to a list published by North Korea's official media KCNA, Kim Woong-jung was not included in the Politburo, although she is still a member of the Central Committee.
Kim Woong-jung became only the second female senior official in the North Korean government's male-focused system to join the Politburo in 2017, following her aunt, Kim Kyung-hee. South Korean intelligence agencies had said in August 2020 that Kim was "essentially second in command" to her brother.
But Lim Eul-chul, a professor of North Korean studies at Kyungnam University in Seoul, sees Kim's absence from the Politburo list as a mixed blessing, coming just days after she first joined 38 top party figures on the leadership podium at the start of the 8th National Assembly. Lim Oo-chul told Reuters, "It's too early to draw conclusions about her (political) status, as she is still a member of the Central Committee and could have held other important positions."
For his part, Michael Madden, a North Korea expert at the Stimson Center, said Kim enjoys the highest degree of policy influence whether she is on the Politburo or not, "We're used to seeing her in a more public role, but Kim's political roots and her professional experience are behind the scenes, not sitting on a stage listening to speeches. "
North Korea's one-man rule
Leader Kim Jong Un consolidated his power at the congress when he was elected party general secretary, taking over the title from his late father, Kim Jong Il. KCNA reported that the congress "fully approved" Kim Jong Un's proposal for the post, calling him the "supreme head of the revolution" and the "center of leadership and unity.
Kim Jong Un said he would expand diplomacy, vowed to develop weapons including "multi-warhead" intercontinental ballistic missiles, and called the United States "the greatest enemy.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at North Korea University in Seoul, said, "Kim Jong-un has shown his confidence that he has now officially joined his father and grandfather," but "it also shows his strategic intent is to centralize the party system around him and strengthen his dictatorial rule."
For his part, North Korea expert Madden argued that "North Korea is currently run as a mere tribe, and Kim Jong-un wants it to function like a monarchy."
Another fast-rising figure at the conference, Jo Yong-won, is also a player to watch.
In addition, Choe Son Hui (Choi Son Hui), North Korea's deputy foreign minister who played a major role in preparing for the 2019 summit with U.S. President Donald Trump (Trump), was demoted.
Meanwhile, South Korean President Moon Jae-in pledged to work to help engineer a breakthrough in stalled denuclearization talks as U.S. President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office. Tae Yong-ho, a former North Korean diplomat who is now a South Korean congressman, said Kim Jong Un's call for more advanced weapons suggests that if he is open to a deal, it is likely to be an arms control agreement rather than full denuclearization.
"He (Kim Jong-un) wants to send a very strong message to the incoming Biden administration," Tae Yong-ho said in an interview.