북한 9차 당대회 개막, 핵 억지력 강조 속 김정은 지도력 재확인
Welcome to Within The Frame, where we bring the most pressing issues across the globe into focus. I'm Kim Mok-yeon.
North Korea has opened its 9th Workers’ Party Congress, the regime's most important political gathering, setting the tone for its direction at home and abroad for years to come.
Kim Jong Un was unanimously re-elected as general secretary, reinforcing his grip on power at a moment Pyongyang says it has “irreversibly” strengthened its national status.
The congress has highlighted nuclear deterrence as a core achievement, carried out a sweeping leadership reshuffle, and revised party rules — all while staying largely silent on specific policies toward South Korea and the United States.
With a military parade expected to follow, the signals coming out of this congress could offer critical clues about North Korea’s military ambitions, diplomatic posture, and long-term strategic trajectory.
For more on this, we are joined by Go Myung-hyun, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy. Welcome.
Also joining us is Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a professor of international relations at King's College London, and KF-VUB Korea Chair at Brussels School of Governance of Vrije Universiteit, Brussels. Welcome.
(GO) 1. Let’s start with the big picture. North Korea’s 9th Workers’ Party Congress where Kim Jong Un was unanimously re-elected as general secretary.
What’s the political significance of that?
(PARDO) 2. In his opening speech at the 9th Party Congress, Kim said that at the time of the last Congress, the situation was so severe that it was difficult to even preserve the system itself, but now the country has irreversibly solidified its national status.
What exactly does he mean by that? Should we see this as a message that North Korea is effectively cementing its status as a nuclear-armed state?
(GO) 3. Building on that, North Korea highlighted strengthening war deterrence centered on nuclear forces as a key achievement.
What does that tell us about North Korea’s nuclear strategy?
(PARDO) 4. The congress also adopted a decision to revise the party charter, but specific details were not disclosed, including whether the so-called hostile two states policy was formally reflected.
If that line is explicitly written into the charter, what changes could we expect in inter-Korean relations and in North Korea’s broader military and diplomatic strategy?
(GO) 5. Shifting to external messaging, This congress focused heavily on domestic issues like the economy, without putting out detailed messages on South Korea or the United States.
How would you read into this?
(PARDO) 6. We also saw a sweeping personnel reshuffle. Key senior figures stepped down, and more than half of the Workers’ Party Central Committee members were replaced.
What does this level of turnover suggest? Does it point to a stronger diplomatic line, or an effort by Kim to move beyond the previous generation and consolidate his own leadership?
(GO) 7. Some analysts say this generational shift could be laying the groundwork for a fourth-generation hereditary succession. What’s your take?
(PARDO) 8. In particular, there was keen interest in whether this congress would effectively confirm a fourth-generation succession, including the possible designation of Kim Ju-ae as the successor.
Yet she has not appeared so far. How should we interpret her absence?
(GO) 9. And finally, a military parade is expected after the congress.
What should we be watching for? And how might it signal North Korea’s military and diplomatic direction over the next five years?
We'll have to leave our discussion right here, many thanks to Dr.Go and Prof.Pardo, we appreciate it.
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2026-02-25, 20:30 (KST)
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