BY Rosemary
North Korea will convene a major congress of its ruling Workers’ Party later this month, a rare and closely watched political gathering at which leader Kim Jong Un is expected to unveil domestic and foreign policy priorities that could shape the country’s direction for the next five years, state media reported Sunday.
The congress, previously held in 2016 and 2021, comes at a moment when Pyongyang has significantly expanded its nuclear and missile programs while forging deeper strategic ties with Russia amid the war in Ukraine. Those developments have intensified North Korea’s long-running confrontations with the United States and South Korea and reshaped its place in the global security landscape.
According to the Korean Central News Agency, the party’s powerful political bureau met under Kim’s supervision and decided to convene the congress in late February. State media did not provide a precise date or publish a detailed agenda, consistent with Pyongyang’s practice of tightly controlling information ahead of major political events.
The party congress is expected to last several days and unfold as a meticulously staged display of Kim’s authority, blending ideological messaging with policy announcements and elaborate pageantry. In the weeks leading up to the meeting, Kim has made a series of high-profile public appearances, inspecting weapons tests, visiting military facilities and touring economic projects. State media coverage has portrayed these activities as evidence of progress under his leadership, crediting him with strengthening the country’s defense capabilities and advancing national development despite international sanctions.
Analysts say Kim is likely to use the congress to reinforce his emphasis on economic self-reliance, a long-standing policy framed as “self-sustenance,” while calling for mass mobilization to overcome persistent shortages and structural weaknesses. At the same time, he is expected to outline plans to further expand and modernize North Korea’s nuclear-armed military, including improvements to conventional forces and deeper integration of those systems with nuclear capabilities.
Recent statements and inspections suggest Kim will continue to prioritize weapons development, particularly as he seeks to solidify North Korea’s status as a nuclear power. That trajectory has included tests of advanced missiles, progress on reconnaissance satellites and visible construction activity linked to a nuclear-powered submarine program.
On the diplomatic front, Kim may highlight an increasingly assertive foreign policy anchored by closer ties with Moscow and Beijing. Experts say he is likely to frame these relationships as part of a broader confrontation with what he portrays as a hostile U.S.-led order, a narrative that aligns with his references to a “new Cold War.” Relations with South Korea are expected to remain adversarial, with little indication of a near-term thaw.
Kim’s willingness to revive diplomacy with Washington remains uncertain. Talks with the United States collapsed in 2019 after his second summit with then-President Donald Trump ended without an agreement, largely over disagreements on sanctions relief and the scope of North Korea’s denuclearization. Since Trump began his second term in January 2025, Kim has rebuffed renewed outreach, insisting that the United States abandon demands for the North to relinquish its nuclear arsenal as a condition for negotiations.
As Kim enters his 15th year in power, his political position appears more secure than it was at the time of the previous congress in 2021. That earlier meeting took place during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when North Korea sealed its borders, endured severe economic strain and faced what Kim himself described as failures in economic management. He responded by announcing a new five-year development plan through 2025 while simultaneously calling for rapid expansion of the nuclear program.
Since then, Kim has capitalized on shifting geopolitical dynamics. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine provided an opportunity to accelerate weapons testing with reduced international pushback and to strengthen ties with President Vladimir Putin. Moscow has accepted large quantities of North Korean military equipment and, according to Western and South Korean officials, thousands of North Korean troops to support its war effort, further cementing the partnership.
Kim has also moved to reinforce relations with China, North Korea’s most important economic partner and diplomatic backer. He traveled to Beijing in September to attend a World War II–related event and held his first summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in six years, signaling an effort to stabilize and deepen ties after a prolonged period of limited engagement.
Despite the country’s rigid information controls, which make precise economic assessments difficult, South Korean analysts say there are signs that North Korea’s economy has improved modestly over the past five years. They point to a gradual recovery in trade with China following the easing of pandemic-era restrictions and a boost to industrial output linked to arms exports to Russia.
The upcoming party congress is expected to formalize these trends, offering insight into how Kim intends to balance economic pressures, military ambitions and diplomatic maneuvering as he charts North Korea’s course through the end of the decade.
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