Ninth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea opens in Pyongyang

Images via the KCNA

Various Sources

The Ninth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) opened on February 19, 2026 in Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), bringing together thousands of delegates and observers to set policy priorities, with a key focus on improving economic activity under Kim Jong Un's leadership.

The Ninth Congress represents the highest decision-making body of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), as stipulated under party rules to be held every five years. The 2026 congress is convening at the April 25 House of Culture in Pyongyang, with approximately 5,000 delegates and 2,000 observers in attendance.

At the opening of the congress, Kim Jong Un said that the five years since the Eighth Congress had seen great advances:

The past five years since the Eighth Congress of the WPK was a proud period when the whole Party and all the people brought about an epochal turn in implementing the socialist cause of our own style on the strength of solid unity.

Our socialist construction spanning long years has not been plain sailing, but never has there been such a period as this one, in which we achieved so great successes despite the severity of trials and difficulties.

When we convened the Eighth Party Congress, the subjective and objective conditions of our revolution were literally so harsh that we could hardly maintain our own existence.

The hostile forces grew more reckless in their schemes for harsh blockade and sanctions against us, and we were also confronted with successive natural calamities and the global public health crisis. This severely hindered the development of all our sectors, and it also seriously threatened the security of our state and the safety of our people.

Worse still, economic work in the country was being conducted in transitional and temporary ways just as it had been since several decades ago; all economic sectors were struggling to maintain the status quo without the orientation of their development.

Consequently, we were compelled to conclude the seventh term of the Party Central Committee as we fell fairly short of attaining the goals of the five-year strategy for national economic development that had been decided upon by the Seventh Party Congress.

However, everything has fundamentally changed today, five years from then.

He also emphasized improving economic activity, highlighting the party's priorities in addressing economic issues and development within the country:

Today, our Party is faced with heavy and urgent historic tasks of boosting economic construction and the people's standard of living and transforming all realms of state and social life as early as possible. This requires us to wage a more active and persistent struggle without allowing even a moment's standstill or stagnation.

In particular, the period of the new long-term plan is a crucial period when we should push forward full steam with the regional development policy in the new era, the rural revolution programme and other intermediate- and long-range plans we adopted and have launched to realize the centuries-old desire of the people.

In contrast, not a few serious shortcomings and negative elements, such as deep-rooted defeatism, irresponsibility, conservatism, formalism and immaturity in leadership ability, are latent at present in the work of the Party and government organs and officials, and this constitutes an artificial obstacle to the work of our Party and state which aspire to rapid development in all fields.

Therefore, we should not only take pride in the successes we achieved during the period under review but also review shortcomings from a critical and developmental point of view, work out the struggle plan for the next stage in an elaborate and scientific way and strengthen the leadership forces capable of leading the implementation of the plan.

(Full address: KCNA | Article | Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un's Opening Address at Ninth Congress of WPK)

On February 17, prior to the congress, delegates visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun where President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Kim Jong Il lie in state.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Thursday sent a message of congratulations on the convening of the congress. "We wish that, under the strong leadership of the WPK Central Committee with General Secretary Kim Jong Un at its helm, the DPRK people will continue to achieve new and greater accomplishments in their socialist construction," it said in part.

The congress also received a congratulatory letter from Dmitry Medvedev, chairman of the United Russia party.