Kim says his party is focused on the tasks of ‘boosting economic construction and the people’s standard of living’.
Published On 22 Feb 2026
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been re-elected as secretary-general of the nation’s Workers’ Party, extending his 15-year rule of the country’s sole governing party.
The election took place on Sunday, the fourth day of the party congress, held every five years, according to the state news agency KCNA. During the event, Central Committee members were also elected, and some party rules were modified, it said without providing details.
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Kim has been North Korea’s supreme leader since the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011.
In 2019, North Korea’s legislature approved constitutional changes to make Kim’s power “monolithic” over all state affairs, formally establishing him as head of state.
During this year’s Workers’ Party Congress, Kim assessed the party’s last five years of work and outlined new strategies and goals for the next five-year period.
Speaking at the event’s opening session last week, Kim called the last five years a “proud period … in implementing the socialist cause of our own style”, while acknowledging challenges such as sanctions and “the global public health crisis”.
“Today, our Party is faced with heavy and urgent historic tasks of boosting econom