The Koreas | Politics | East Asia

North Korea Puts Its Medium-Term Plan on Track

Unpacking the recent Congress.

In this photo from North Korean state media, Kim Jong Un delivers an address at the first session of the 15th Supreme People’s Assembly, Mar. 23, 2026.

The 9th Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea was held in February, showcasing with great aplomb achievements across a range of fields over the five years since the 8th Party Congress. Meanwhile, a new Five-Year Plan was announced with the goal of the “all-out development” of a socialist state. The new plan revealed no significant deviations from the conventional path. Indeed, one could argue that the primary feature of the Congress was that it established the format of a regular meeting once every five years, demonstrating to domestic and international observers alike that North Korea enjoys a stable government.

During the Kim Il Sung era, the Party Congress was held once a decade. Under Kim Jong Il, when the economy was in turmoil, it was not held once. Kim Jong Un was able to hold it in 2016, for the first time in 36 years. At the 7th Party Congress, Kim, the party’s First Secretary, was given the new position of Chairman, and then at the 8th Party Congress he was named General Secretary. This time, he was simply re-elected as the incumbent General Secretary. Likewise, at the Supreme People’s Assembly in March, he kept his title of President of the State Affairs Commission as head of state.

Kim used the summit to highlight his achievements, declaring that the economic plan for the past five years had been “basically completed,” a very different position compared to the previous time when he frankly admitted a failure of economic policy. The previous five-year plan, which was drafted in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, necessarily defined low targets amid uncertainty about the future. Since then, though, in addition to the gradual transition to living with COVID-19, North Korea has enjoyed a boost from special wartime demand owing to a deepening of its relations with Russia.

A second feature was the non-disclosure of decisions. The early days of the Kim administration saw many initiatives to make North Korea more transparent. The 2012 military parade welcomed a number of Western media outlets, while a failed satellite launch was immediately announced. Kim himself frequently appeared on stage, and the full texts of his speeches were made public.

By contrast, much about the two recent meetings remains undisclosed. Last time, a number of new executive titles were announced, including “Director of the Organization and Guidance Department” and “Director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department” in the Party Central Committee, but this time they were uniformly referred to as “directors,” without specifying their departments. The sole exception was Kim Yo Jong, Kim’s younger sister, who was named Director of General Affairs.

Although it was announced that the party rules would be revised, no specific new provisions have been released. The Supreme People’s Assembly made major revisions, including a change to the name of the constitution for the first time in 54 years, but here too the new text remains unpublished. The country is becoming........

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