SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – Facing mounting international pressure over its nuclear and missile ambitions, North Korea has set a date for its biggest political convention in decades next week that is expected to bolster young dictator Kim Jong Un’s grip on power.
The ruling Workers’ Party, led by Kim, will open its 7th congress in Pyongyang on May 6, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday.
It will be the first time the congress, the highest-level decision-making party organ, will be held since 1980, when Kim’s late father Kim Jong Il was awarded a slew of top jobs in a confirmation that he was in line to succeed his father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung.
Since taking power upon the death of his father in late 2011, Kim Jong Un has been struggling to revive his country’s troubled economy and grapple with an international standoff over its nuclear and missile programs.
The crisis deepened earlier this year when North Korea conducted a fourth nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch, which led to the U.N. slapping its toughest sanctions on Pyongyang in 20 years. South Korea and the United States also made their ongoing springtime military drills the largest ever.