ABSTRACT
When the Fifth KWP Congress opened in Pyongyang on 2 November 1970, it confirmed the absolute supremacy of Kim Il Sung. The Party had left its collectivist phase behind and now celebrated its dependence on the wisdom and judgement of Kim as its genius-leader. Kim reached this position of supreme power at a time when the DPRK faced a number of significant challenges to its basic state policies. The stagnating economy represented a growing dilemma, for by the early 1970s new inputs of investment and technology, and more sophisticated, decentralised economic decision-making, were essential if the country were to address the serious shortcomimgs which had emerged during the 1960s. Similarly, the foundations of the DPRK’s foreign policy were severely challenged by Sino-US rapprochement and Soviet-US détente. These processes strengthened the commitment of the DPRK’s major allies to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, and hence to a continuing division which remained unacceptable to the DPRK.
