Anchor: North Korea convened a plenary session of the ruling Workers' Party's Eighth Central Committee for three days through Sunday, calling its recent failed satellite launch "the most serious shortcoming." Kim Yong-chol, a former senior official handling inter-Korean affairs, returned to the politburo after a yearlong absence.
Choi You Sun reports.

Report: North Korea has openly chastised officials involved in its recent failed attempt to place a military spy satellite into orbit, calling it the "most serious shortcoming."

The assessment came during a three-day plenary session of the Eighth Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party that ended on Sunday.

The ruling party’s mouthpiece, the Rodong Sinmun, said on Monday that a combative task was put forth to improve the regime's reconnaissance and intelligence capacity by analyzing the cause of the failed attempt, to be followed by a successful launch.

The North, which had previously declared that a second launch will be attempted as soon as possible, reiterated its intent without elaboration.

The Chollima-1 rocket carrying the Malligyong-1 reconnaissance satellite was fired from the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground on May 31, before crashing into the Yellow Sea following what the regime claimed was an "abnormal starting" of the second-stage engine.

Meanwhile, Kim Yong-chol, a former top North Korean party official in charge of affairs with South Korea, returned to the ruling party's politburo as an alternate member after a yearlong absence.

Kim, who  played a key role in a series of bilateral summits with South Korea and the U.S. in 2018, was demoted to head the United Front Department(UFD) handling inter-Korean affairs in 2021 before leaving the post last June.

The move suggests that the official, known for his hardline stance on the South, may return to oversee the ruling party's inter-Korean affairs.

O Su-yong, a former party secretary and director of the economic department who was dismissed last June, also returned to his former posts amid the North's continued severe food shortages.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.