N. Korea calls first ruling party congress for 35 years

SEOUL - Agence France-Presse

This picture taken in October 1980 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on October 30, 2015, shows a general view during the sixth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) at the April 25 House of Culture, originally named as "February 8 House of Culture" in Pyongyang, between 10 and 14 October 1980. AFP Photo

North Korea announced on Oct. 30 it would convene a congress of its ruling Workers' Party for the first time in 35 years, reviving a forum last gathered under the rule of current leader Kim Jong-Un's grandfather, Kim Il-Sung.

The congress -- only the seventh since the official founding of the party in 1945 -- will be held in May next year, the party central committee's politburo said in a statement carried by the North's official KCNA news agency.
 
The statement gave no specific indication of what the congress would discuss, although it mentioned the need to "further strengthen the party... and enhance its leading role."  

Observers said it would provide an opportunity to signal any significant policy shifts or reshuffle the party leadership.
   
The last congress was held way back in October 1980 under North Korea's founding leader -- and party supremo -- Kim Il-Sung.
 
Kim Il-Sung's son and successor Kim Jong-Il never called a congress and next year's gathering will also be the first for third generation Kim dynasty leader Kim Jong-Un.
 
The decision is clearly partly attributable to the fact that this year is the 70th anniversary of the ruling party's founding -- a milestone marked with a massive military parade and multiple celebrations in Pyongyang earlier this month.
 
The Worker's Party was originally conceived, under Soviet patronage, as a classic communist entity guided by Marxist-Leninist ideology.
 
But as the leadership of Kim Il-Sung spawned a personality cult that went into overdrive in the late 1960s, it was redefined as the party of the leader, and has remained so ever since.
 
After Kim Il-Sung's death in 1994, Kim Jong-Il instituted a "military first" policy that saw a shift in influence from party officials to the generals.
 
When Kim Jong-Un, took over following his father's death in 2011, the party regained some lost ground as he replaced scores of powerful military commanders and forged alliances with influential party officials.