▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during a plenary meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea, in this file photo published by the Korean Central News Agency on Dec. 11, 2025. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

(LEAD) N Korea-party congress

(LEAD) N. Korea to convene key party congress in late February

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details throughout; RECASTS headline, lead para)

By Park Boram

SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will hold a key party congress in late February, the North's state media reported Sunday, in a rare meeting where leader Kim Jong-un is expected to announce his ruling policy, including military, diplomacy and economy.

The decision by the North Korean ruling party's political bureau came at a meeting of the political bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) the previous day, which was presided over by party secretary Jo Yong-won under Kim's guidance, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

"The Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee adopted with unanimous approval a decision on opening the Ninth Congress of the WPK in Pyongyang, the capital of the revolution, in late February 2026," the KCNA said.

The upcoming ninth party congress, the first since the eighth in 2021, is expected to outline North Korea's key policies on the economy, diplomacy and defense. The party congress is the regime's highest decision-making body.

At the Saturday meeting, participating members of the politburo and its presidium approved decisions on the qualification of delegates to the upcoming congress, as well as the composition of its presidium, platform and secretariat and the schedule.

While expressing appreciation for the preparations for the party congress, "Kim Jong Un ... clarified the principled issues and detailed tasks for the successful holding of the congress," the KCNA said.

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