The month of October 2015 for the North Korean regime’s senior leadership was dominated by emphasis on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea as well as a continuing focus on economic projects such as science and technology development.

For several days, the regime was focused exclusively on the October 10 anniversary of the founding of the WPK, known as Party Foundation Day. Emphasizing such a date is important for the North Korean regime in reinforcing the dominant role of the ruling party. At other times in the month, Pyongyang was particularly attentive