Imminent 8th Party Congress in North Korea... Will Kim Jong Un Omit the New Year's Speech?

Party Leaders Complete Assembly in Pyongyang
Likely to Be Held Within Days... Overlapping with New Year's Address

The certificate awarding ceremony for representatives of the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea was held on the 30th, the Korean Central News Agency reported on the 31st.

On the 31st, North Korea reported news related to the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party, indicating that the party congress, scheduled for "early January next year," is imminent. There is speculation that it could start within a few days, and the possibility of Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, skipping the January 1st New Year's speech is gaining traction.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on the same day that "delegates participating in the 8th Congress of the Party arrived in Pyongyang in late December and received a warm welcome from the capital's citizens." It also reported that a ceremony for awarding delegate certificates was held on the 30th.

The agency stated that Kim Jae-ryong, Vice Chairman of the Party and chairman of the 8th Party Congress Preparatory Committee, "delivered delegate certificates to party representatives at all levels and also awarded 'Delegate Certificates of the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea' posthumously to President Kim Il-sung and Chairman Kim Jong-il." It added that provincial party representative meetings and meetings of the People's Army and Cabinet party committees were held, and that delegate elections and observer recommendations had already taken place within this month.

The news of the arrival of party delegates in Pyongyang is interpreted as a precursor to the party congress. The 7th Party Congress in 2016 (May 6-9) began three days after the arrival of party delegates in Pyongyang was reported. There is also a possibility that the congress could start as early as January 1 or 2.

Accordingly, the likelihood of the North Korean supreme leader delivering the New Year's speech outlining the national policy blueprint on January 1 has decreased. At this 8th Party Congress, Chairman Kim is expected to announce the overall national policy line and a new foreign policy line orally, including a new five-year national economic development plan. Since coming to power in 2012, Kim has delivered seven oral New Year's speeches over nine years, but these are likely to overlap with the conclusions and reports of the party congress. This year, Kim replaced the New Year's speech with a speech at the 5th Plenary Meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers' Party, held over four days from December 28 to 31 last year.

Since taking power, Kim has only skipped the oral New Year's speech twice: this year and immediately after the death of Chairman Kim Jong-il in 2012. In 2012, the New Year's speech was replaced by a joint editorial published in the three major daily newspapers?the party paper (Rodong Sinmun), the military paper (Joson Inmingun), and the youth paper (Chongnyon Jonwi)?following the method used by Kim Jong-il during his lifetime.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.