Last week, North Korean cell secretaries — who head small political groups — gathered for days at a conference attended by leader Kim Jong Un himself. These meetings tell us how the regime seeks to control broader North Korean society.

The party cell is at the bottom of the Korean Workers’ Party hierarchy. It is where the grassroots party membership comes into contact with the institutions of the party. A cell can contain between five and 30 members, and cell secretaries work for free, managing new membership applications and punishing wayward members. 

At the conference, Kim Jong Un