Kim Jong Un Re-Elected Leader Of North Korea's Ruling Party In Rare Congress

Last Updated:February 23, 2026, 09:06 IST

The party lauded Kim Jong Un for turning the North Korean military “into an elite and powerful army".

North Korea’s ruling Worker’s Party has re-elected Kim Jong Un as general secretary on the fourth day of the party’s congress in Pyongyang on Sunday, state-run news agency KCNA reported on Monday.

The meeting also elected new members to the party Central Committee and adopted some revisions to the party rules, details of which aren’t shared. While Kim has remained at the top of North Korean leadership, the party congress’s presidium has been reshuffled since the last meeting in 2021. More than half of its 39 members have been replaced, according to state media.

In a laudatory report, the congress – the first since 2021 and just the fourth in 45 years – lauded the country’s ruler for turning the North Korean military “into an elite and powerful army … capable of coping with any threat of aggression on their own initiative and fully prepared for any form of war," news agency Reuters reported, citing KCNA.

The party further credited the country’s ruler for raising the prestige of the country and creating an international environment favourable to its revolutionary struggle.

Under his leadership, “the war deterrence of the country with the nuclear forces as its pivot has been radically improved," KCNA said.

“The war deterrence of the country with the nuclear forces as its pivot has been radically improved and our state has dynamically advanced … despite the stern challenges of history," it added.

“Through his seasoned external activities Kim Jong Un has remarkably raised the dignity and prestige of the DPRK, created an international environment favorable for the Korean revolution and made a great contribution to the common cause of mankind," it said, using the acronym for the North’s formal name, the Democratic Republic of Korea.

North Korea’s ongoing party congress, held once every five years in the last decade, commenced on 19 February. There are 5,000 party members attending the Ninth Congress of the Workers’ Party, according to KCNA.

The party congress offers a rare glimpse into the structure of political power in North Korea, which remains highly secretive even to the keenest watchers.

Who Is Kim Jong Un?

Kim Jong Un leads North Korea as its supreme leader. He took power after his father, Kim Jong Il, died in 2011. His grandfather, Kim Il Sung, founded the country and the Workers’ Party back in 1949. At 42 years old, Kim holds the top spot in the party, the military, and the government.

Will Kim Jong Un’s Daughter Succeed Him?

Meanwhile, South Korea’s spy agency said that Kim had chosen his teenage daughter Ju Ae as his heir.

Kim Ju Ae, believed to be 13 years old, has become an increasingly prominent figure at official events – inspecting missiles and attending Beijing’s military parade with her father.

While the NIS previously described Kim’s daughter as being in “successor training," it now characterises her as being at the “successor-designate stage", a significant change in assessment.

Attention intensified last month when she joined her parents at Pyongyang’s Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the mausoleum housing the embalmed bodies of her grandfather Kim Jong II and great-grandfather Kim II Sung.

(With inputs from agencies)

News world Kim Jong Un Re-Elected Leader Of North Korea's Ruling Party In Rare Congress

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