North Korean nuclear test anticipated as party congress called
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has announced that a ruling Workers’ party congress will take place on 6 May. Reflecting the fact that this is the first such congress in 36 years, analysts are forecasting that the country will conduct another nuclear test ahead of the event. At the conference, Kim’s ‘byongjin policy’ is expected to be formally adopted. This calls for a simultaneous push for economic development and nuclear weapons capability.

North Korea has announced its ruling Workers’ party congress will take place on 6 May – a landmark event that analysts suggest will be preceded by another banned nuclear test.

It is the first such conference in 36 years and analysts expect North Korea to formally adopt leader Kim Jong-un’s byongjin policy: simultaneously pushing for economic development and nuclear weapons capability.



The summit will be watched closely for indications of how it will present its internationally banned pursuit of nuclear weapons.



North Korea’s last party conference was held in 1980, before the birth of Kim, who is believed to be 33.



Byongjin follows Kim’s father’s policy of songun, or “military first”, and his grandfather’s juche, the North’s home-grown founding ideology that combines Marxism and extreme nationalism.

North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and has pushed ahead with ballistic missile development in defiance of UN sanctions and international warnings. It is seen to be readying another nuclear test and missile launches in the run-up to the conference despite new UN sanctions imposed in March.



The last congress of the Workers’ party was held in 1980 under the rule of Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il-sung, the state founder. Kim Jong-un’s father, Kim Jong-il, who died in December 2011, never held a ruling party congress.

“The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the WPK decides to open the Seventh Congress of the WPK in Pyongyang on May 6 2016,” state news agency KCNA said. WPK stands for the Workers’ Party of Korea.

With Reuters