The 9th Congress of the Workers' Party, regarded as North Korea's biggest political event, opened on the 19th in Pyongyang.
Korean Central News Agency said on the 20th that the 9th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea raised its curtain. Kim Jong-un, chairman of the State Affairs Commission, said in his opening address, "We are approaching the 9th Party Congress brimming with optimism and self-confidence about the future, and this is indeed a great change and development and a result to take pride in at the current stage."
Kim, the Chairperson, compared it with the 8th Party Congress held five years ago and said, "Even externally, by irreversibly consolidating the country's status, we have brought about a great change in the influence relations between the world political landscape and our state."
He went on to say, "Favorable conditions and an environment have also been created to press ahead more vigorously with our socialist construction."
In his opening address, Kim, the Chairperson, devoted much of his remarks to the economy without mentioning the United States, South Korea, or nuclear capabilities. He noted, "Today our Party faces grave and urgent historical tasks to lift up economic construction and the people's livelihoods and to swiftly transform every sector of the state's social life."
He emphasized, "In particular, the new outlook plan period is a crucial time to push in earnest the medium- to long-term plans that have been set and launched to realize the people's centuries-old aspirations, including the new-era local development policy and the rural revolution program."
The main agenda items of this Party Congress are the general review of the work of the Party Central Committee, revision of the Party rules, and elections of central leadership bodies. Kim, the Chairperson, said that ahead of the Party Congress, a non-standing preparatory committee was organized and investigative teams from each institutional sector were dispatched to comprehensively inspect the work of the past five years.
He said, "In-depth research was conducted on issues related to revising the Party rules and on matters such as reorganizing the Party's leadership capabilities, as well as on issues arising in further strengthening the Party's leading functions to meet the requirements of the new era's five major Party-building lines."
A total of 5,000 people attended the congress, including 224 members of the Party's central institutions and 4,776 representatives by region and function. The number of women representatives was 413, down from 501 at the 8th Party Congress.
In North Korea, where the Party leads all state institutions, the Party Congress is the highest decision-making body. At this 9th Party Congress, the achievements of the past five years will be settled, and directions for domestic and foreign policy for the next five years are expected to be announced.