N. Korea's rare party congress appears imminent as delegates arrive in Pyongyang

North Korean delegates participating in an upcoming congress of the ruling Workers' Party have gathered in Pyongyang and were awarded certificates, state media said Thursday, raising the possibility that the meeting could take place as early as this week.

The upcoming session, which will be the first party congress in four years, has drawn keen attention as the North is expected to unveil a new economic development plan and could announce its new policy line on the United States and South Korea.

"Delegates to the 8th Party Congress arrived in Pyongyang late in December amid the warm welcome by citizens," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

On Wednesday, a ceremony also took place to award certificates to the delegates, according to the KCNA.

During the ceremony, Kim Jae-ryong, a former premier currently serving as the chairman of the preparatory committee, said the party congress is "an important political event which will make another milestone for a fresh turn in the history of the glorious party," according to the KCNA.

"It will set forth the line of struggle and strategic and tactical policies to surely put the cause of building a socialist power onto the next stage of victory," Kim was quoted as saying.

The participating delegates were seen without masks in photos released by the KCNA, though Pyongyang has been at the highest level of alert against the coronavirus since earlier this month.

Certificates were also awarded to leader Kim Jong-un's late grandfather and national founder Kim Il-sung and to his late father and leader Kim Jong-il, the KCNA said.

Earlier this week, the North said that leader Kim Jong-un presided over a politburo meeting and adopted a decision to hold a party congress in early January. It did not specify an exact date for the meeting.

The KCNA's report on the arrival of delegates suggests the congress is impending and could take place as early as this week. In 2016, state media reported the delegates' arrival in the capital city three days before the party congress kicked off.

South Korea's unification ministry said there is a possibility that the upcoming congress could be scaled down compared with the previous session given the North's all-out fight to ward off an outbreak of COVID-19.

"The scale of the eighth party congress is expected to be similar to that of the seventh party congress," the ministry said in a press release. "But there exists a possibility of it being scaled back somewhat due to the COVID-19 pandemic."

The seventh congress was held for four days in May 2016 and joined by around 3,600 delegates, along with some 1,400 observers. Leader Kim addressed the gathering and adopted his signature "byongjin" policy of simultaneously pursuing nuclear weapons and economic development.

The ministry said it will closely watch what the North's policy line on the US and South Korea will be. In particular, it expects the North could stay away from provocative messages toward the US and possibly stress the need for peace and global cooperation. (Yonhap)