▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un waves in Pyongyang on May 14, 2026, while joining a photo session with participants in the ninth congress of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea (GFTUK), in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution)

NK leader-labor group

N. Korea's Kim urges workers to drive development goals as socialist 'vanguard'

SEOUL, May 15 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called on workers to serve as the "vanguard" of socialist construction and stressed their role in achieving the state's development goals, state media reported Friday.

Kim met with the workers of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea (GFTUK) the previous day for a photo session and delivered a speech, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

During the session, Kim reaffirmed the workers' ideological role in supporting the ruling Workers' Party of Korea and advancing the state's economic and socialist development goals.

Kim stressed the GFTUK must "fulfill its mission and duty as an organization for ideological education," preparing them "as a revolutionized and patriotic core force for national development and powerful vanguard for carrying out the three revolutions," the report said.

"The role of the GFTUK in mobilizing the ideological power served as a great strength for the party which ushered in the great pioneering period of the comprehensive rejuvenation," Kim stressed, according to the report.

The workers' group held its ninth congress Monday through Tuesday, electing new leadership. It is one of North Korea's four major labor organizations operating under the guidance of the party, tasked with instilling party ideology and carrying out policies and directives. The other three organizations represent women, youth and farmers.

In February, North Korea held a key party congress, at which the leadership set major policy directions on the military, the economy and other fields for the next five years.

Since then, Pyongyang has held a series of congresses of affiliated groups in a bid to refresh its organizational landscape.

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[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]