The 33-year-old is expected to cement his leadership and formally declare the nation a nuclear-armed state at the first congress in a staggering 36 years.
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The North conducted its fourth nuclear test in January, followed by a long-range rocket launch and a flurry of other missile and weapons tests.
South Korea’s unification ministry said that Seoul is closely monitoring the situation but no particular signs of a test have been detected.
When his own turn came, following the death of Kim Jong-Il in December 2011, there were numerous doubters who suggested the Swiss finishing school graduate lacked the survival skills needed for the Machiavellian world of North Korean power politics. China has made a decision to stop import of North Korean coal, goal and sales of jet fuel under United Nations sanctions, reported the Independent.
Photos from April 28 show signs of sparse activity at the North’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site, but it’s hard to tell whether that work is related to an imminent detonation or ongoing maintenance, said 38 North, a website run by Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies that monitors North Korean activities.
North Korea will likely conduct its fifth nuclear test around the key meeting of its ruling Workers’ Party later this week, South Korean defense ministry said Monday.
Seoul says the waitresses willingly defected to the South. North Korean authorities today organized colleagues and parents of the waitresses to meet North Korean and foreign media in Pyongyang.
While some past party congresses featured representatives from countries the North has ties with, South Korean officials have said they were not aware of invitations sent to official foreign guests for the upcoming event. North Korea has also worked to limit access to mobile phones and outside media, like South Korean soap operas.
In the last party congress, held in 1980, Kim’s late father, Kim Jong Il, was awarded a slew of top jobs in a confirmation he was in line to succeed his father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung.
The congress is expected to last four or five days, South Korean government officials and experts said.
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Kim Jong Un is seeking to establish himself as more of a party man – in the vein of his grandfather, eternal leader Kim Il Sung – as opposed to his father, Kim Jong Il, who was seen as more focused on the military.
