Kim lauds North Korea’s economy and regional standing as major party meeting opens

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un lauded his nation's improving economy and regional standing as he opened the country's most important political event, where he is expected to set his domestic and foreign policy agenda for the next five years and further entrench his family's authoritarian rule.

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said Friday that the ruling Workers' Party Congress began the previous day with Kim delivering a speech emphasizing the economy. State media did not immediately report any comments by Kim directly addressing his standoffs with the United States and South Korea or his nuclear weapons program, the main focus of international concern.

Kim said the North has made significant progress since the last congress in 2021, held during the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, citing economic gains and a firmer regional footing that he said marked an "irreversible" strengthening of the state's status.

"This created favorable conditions and circumstances for giving a greater spur to our socialist construction," he said. "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."

KCNA said the congress meeting in Pyongyang would be used to define major policy goals for the coming years and strengthen the party's organizational capabilities, but didn't provide more specific information on the agenda.

Kim in recent years has leveraged Russia's war on Ukraine to advance his nuclear and missile capabilities and tighten alignment with Moscow, providing thousands of troops and substantial military equipment to sustain Russia's campaign, possibly in exchange for economic aid and military technologies. He has also pursued stronger relations with China, traditionally the North's primary ally and economic lifeline, traveling to Beijing last year for a World War II event and having his first summit in six years with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

While North Korea's strict information blockade obscures its true economic state, outside experts suggest there has been a gradual recovery, likely boosted by a post-pandemic rebound in trade with China and weapons exports to Russia.

The congress, which will likely run for days, came after a weekslong build up during which Kim flaunted his military capabilities and toured major industrial and housing projects to tout his alleged achievements over the past five years. About 5,000 delegates are participating in the congress, including 224 members of the party's central leadership, Kim said.

Chang Yoon-jeong, a spokesperson at South Korea's Unification Ministry, said the attendance level was similar to the 2021 congress and that Seoul was closely monitoring the event for shifts in inter-Korean relations or broader foreign policy.

Experts say Kim will likely use the meeting to lay out his next economic goals and further plans to expand his nuclear-armed military, already equipped with various systems targeting U.S. allies in Asia and long-range missiles potentially capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.

South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers last week it was watching for signs that Kim could use the congress to position his teenage daughter - believed to be named Kim Ju Ae and about 13 - as a potential successor, formalizing the regime's fourth-generation succession.

Diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington has been frozen since 2019, following the collapse of a summit between Kim and President Donald Trump over disagreements regarding U.S.-led sanctions on the North' nuclear program. Kim's government has rebuffed U.S. offers for dialogue since Trump began his second term, demanding that Washington first abandon its calls for the North's denuclearization as a precondition for any talks.

North Korea has also suspended nearly all talks and cooperation with South Korea since Kim's fallout with Trump. Relations between the rivals have worsened in recent years as Kim discarded the North's long-standing goal of peaceful reunification and declared a hostile "two-state" system on the Korean Peninsula, a stance he may further institutionalize in the Workers' Party's constitution during the congress, experts say.