Pyongyang: North Korea will hold a key party congress in late February, the North's state media reported Sunday, in a rare meeting where leader Kim Jong-un is expected to announce his ruling policy, including military, diplomacy, and economy.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the decision by the North Korean ruling party's political bureau came at a meeting of the political bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) the previous day. The meeting was presided over by party secretary Jo Yong-won under the guidance of Kim Jong-un, as reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"The Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee adopted with unanimous approval a decision on opening the Ninth Congress of the WPK in Pyongyang, the capital of the revolution, in late February 2026," the KCNA stated.

The upcoming ninth party congress, the first since the eighth in 2021, is expected to outline North Korea's key policies on the economy, diplomacy, and defense. The party congress serves as the regime's highest decision-making body.

During the Saturday meeting, members of the politburo and its presidium approved decisions regarding the qualification of delegates to the upcoming congress, as well as the composition of its presidium, platform, and secretariat, and the schedule.

Kim Jong-un expressed appreciation for the preparations for the party congress and "clarified the principled issues and detailed tasks for the successful holding of the congress," the KCNA reported.