The Workers’ Party Congress signals a different form of “liberation” – securing regime survival through nuclear deterrence, not the liberation of the Korean peninsula
3-MIN READ3-MINSyrus Solo JinPublished: 8:30pm, 8 Mar 2026The North Korea that leaves the ninth Workers’ Party Congress is a different country from the one that left the eighth congress in 2021. Five years ago, the centrepiece of the eighth party congress was an ambitious weapons development programme unveiled by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and accompanied by belligerent rhetoric against the United States, both of which indicated the North Korean leadership’s concerns about their vulnerability.Now, Kim’s regime has an improved and resilient nuclear arsenal, a strong military alliance with Russia tested on the battlefields of Ukraine and an economy that has recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic. Simultaneously, Kim emphasised that South Korea was a “most hostile” nation, even as he signalled openness to cooperation with the US. This has reanimated security concerns on the Korean peninsula, as there appears to be no pathway for inter-Korean diplomacy while the North designates Seoul as a hostile state.While South Korean and US officials should take Pyongyang’s rhetoric seriously, it would be a mistake to assume that Kim’s statements were only meant for foreign audiences. The rhetoric and policy changes under Kim represent a remarkable shift in North Korea’s political stance towards coexistence.
Why have South Korean moves to make amends been ignored by the North?
