North Korean chief Kim Jong Un applauds as he attends the Ninth Congress of the Employees’ Celebration of Korea (WPK), the place he was re-elected as normal secretary, in Pyongyang, North Korea, February 22, 2026.
| Photograph Credit score: Reuters
North Korean chief Kim Jong Un has been re-elected because the Basic Secretary of the ruling Employees’ Celebration at a uncommon congress, state media stated Monday (February 23, 2026).
The choice was made Sunday (February 22) — day 4 of the congress — “in accordance with the unshakable will and unanimous need of all of the delegates”, the Korean Central Information Company stated.
Beneath the management of Mr. Kim, “the conflict deterrence of the nation with the nuclear forces as its pivot has been radically improved,” the KCNA report stated.
Held simply as soon as each 5 years, the days-long celebration congress provides a uncommon glimpse into the workings of a nation the place even mundane particulars are shrouded in secrecy.
The gathering directs state efforts on every little thing from home constructing to conflict planning.
In his speech to open the congress on Thursday, Mr. Kim vowed to raise residing requirements, providing a glimpse of the financial strains affecting his sanctions-hit nation.
“Right now, our celebration is confronted with heavy and pressing historic duties of boosting financial building and the individuals’s lifestyle and remodeling all realms of state and social life as early as attainable,” Mr. Kim stated.
For many years, nuclear weapons and navy prowess got here at the beginning else in North Korea, whilst meals shares dried up and famine took maintain.
However since assuming energy in 2011, Kim has careworn the necessity to additionally fortify the impoverished nation’s financial system.
On the final celebration congress in 2021, Kim made a particularly uncommon admission that errors had been made in “virtually all areas” of financial growth.
Mr. Kim has already declared this 12 months’s congress will unveil the following part within the nation’s nuclear weapons programme.
State media reported Monday (February 23) that in Sunday’s session, the celebration additionally voted to revise its personal guidelines with a view in the direction of “consolidating the Celebration ranks in a qualitative manner” and guaranteeing “impartiality in making use of the Celebration self-discipline.”
It’s simply the ninth time the Employees’ Celebration congress has convened underneath the Kim household’s decades-long rule.
The assembly was shelved underneath Kim’s father Kim Jong Il, however was revived in 2016.
Mr. Kim has spent years stoking his cult of persona in reclusive North Korea, and the congress provides one other likelihood to show his absolute grip on energy.
Printed – February 23, 2026 04:13 am IST
