North Korea has re-elected Kim Jong Un as general secretary of the ruling Workers’ Party, while boasting advances in the country’s nuclear capabilities, state media reported Monday, February 23rd.
The decision came during a rare national congress of the Workers’ Party in Pyongyang, a once-in-five-years gathering that directs state efforts—ranging from diplomacy to war planning. Thousands of party members attended the summit.
According to the Korean Central News Agency, senior military officials made a “pledge of loyalty” to Kim as delegates rubber-stamped his re-election on Sunday. The congress highlighted Kim’s efforts to keep unnamed foes at bay by “radically” improving North Korea’s “nuclear forces.”
A party statement said Kim had
energetically led the work to turn the Korean People’s Army, the pivot of national defence and pillar of safeguarding peace, into an elite and powerful army.
It added that the armed forces were capable of coping with “any threat of aggression” and fully prepared for “any form of war.”
The congress is expected to see Kim unveil the next phase of North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme. Under his leadership, the country’s nuclear arsenal has evolved from a source of mild global concern into what is treated as a genuine threat.
China’s President Xi Jinping hailed a “new chapter” in relations with North Korea after Kim’s re-election.
