NORTH KOREAN MEASURES

[Anchor Lead]

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has started strengthening his authority ahead of nuclear talks. He has even earned a new title of the Supreme Representative by overhauling the power structure.

[Pkg]

A large crowd has gathered at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang. A special event was held to celebrate the conclusion of the Supreme People's Assembly, in which Kim Jong-un was reelected as the Chairman of the State Affairs.

[Soundbite] (KOREAN CENTRAL TV(APR. 14)) : "A public assembly was held to celebrate Kim Jong-un's reelection as the chairman of the State Affairs Commission."

Present at the event were the new North Korean leadership, including Choe Ryong-hae, the President of the Presidium of Supreme People's Assembly, Vice Chair of the Workers' Party Central Committee Park Pong-ju, and Prime Minister Kim Jae-ryong. Kim Jong-un had apparently finished forming a team for his second leg of administration. He even earned a new title, "the supreme representative of the Korean people."

[Soundbite] CHOE RYONG-HAE(PRES., PRESIDIUM OF THE SUPREME PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY) : "Our dear supreme leader Kim Jong-un represents the entire people and appointed to the nation's highest position that leads all national projects."

Until now, the North Korean Constitution has stipulated that the president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly represented the nation, not Kim Jong-un. According to some analyses, with the latest constitutional amendment, he is granted authority to represent the nation to the outside world. At the assembly, the regime emphasized self-reliance, demonstrating that it is no longer obsessed with sanctions removal. Pyongyang also seemed to be bracing itself for drawn-out denuclearization talks. In the wake of several major political events, the hermit kingdom is celebrating the late Kim Il-sung's birthday today. It is marked as the Day of the Sun. North Korea launched a missile on this date in 2016 and flaunted its military might with a parade in 2017, but its Day of the Sun celebration last year was rather low-key, mostly comprising of sports and cultural events, as another inter-Korean summit was being planned.