What to expect at North Korea’s biggest political event as Kim Jong Un prepares to expand role of military

Kim Jong Un vowed to expand North Korea’s military and set next-stage plans for bolstering the nuclear programme as he prepared for the country’s biggest political event expected to be held late February in Pyongyang.

Analysts believe Mr Kim’s comments are an indication that the country will possibly reveal a new military plan at the upcoming ninth Workers' Party congress, which takes place every five years to set out major policy goals.

The ruling party’s congress is a tool for North Korea to issue propaganda messages to the world and to decide on the next political, economic, and military priorities.

The North Korean dictator had visited various military and economic facilities ahead of the congress, such as a cruise missile launch site and a large-scale greenhouse farm, to promote his accomplishments in national policy.

The party’s political bureau held a meeting last Saturday to prepare for the congress, state media KCNA reported.

Mr Kim said: “Our army has proved before the times and history that it is its mettle and original features to quicken more enormous and vigorous strides for loyalty and feats the greater the trust in and expectation for it is.

“As you are all prepared for, this is a year of tremendous transformation, when the fighting front of our army will become more widened and which will demand more strenuous efforts.

“Likewise, the coming five years that will be indicated by the Ninth Congress of the Party will be years when our army’s outstanding role that no one else can perform will become further enhanced.”

Mr Kim was speaking at an event at the ministry of defence on the 78th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army (KPA).

Last month, he said North Korea would unveil plans to further boost its nuclear programme at the upcoming party congress. Observers say the congress is expected be held in the second half of February, after the birth anniversary of Mr Kim’s late father, Kim Jong Il.

The last party congress was held in 2021. During that mammoth event, Mr Kim adopted a resolution to bolster his country’s “nuclear deterrent”.

Establishing a nuclear force has been “a strategic and predominant goal”, Mr Kim said during the party meeting at the time – which was the first of its kind since 2016.

“This (defence) plan is likely to include securing heat-resisting atmospheric re-entry technology for ICBMs (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles), which North Korea has not yet proven through testing, as well as advancing nuclear-powered submarines and military reconnaissance satellites,” Cho Han-bum, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told South China Morning Post’s This Week in Asia.

On Sunday, Mr Kim said “last year was a year especially filled with unheard-of dramatic events and distinguished feats that could be performed only by our army”. He added that “for this, it can be called a year when the Party’s and people’s trust in and affection for their army grew stronger and greater”.

In December, Mr Kim asked his officials to ramp up the production of missiles and artillery shells in 2026 and build new factories to meet the needs of the military.

According to the KCNA report at the time, “to further expand the overall production capacity” and keep pace with the military’s demand, the leader also ordered the building of new munitions plants.

Pyongyang already possesses a range of nuclear-capable missiles designed to strike the US as well as its allies across Asia.

Mr Kim has called on the US to abandon its insistence that the North give up its nuclear weapons before talks can resume. He also did not respond to an offer from Donald Trump to meet while the US leader was in South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju earlier last year.