North Korea: Party Congress Set to Bolster Repression

By Human Rights Watch

Click to expand Image North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech during the ruling Workers’ Party Congress in Pyongyang, February 19, 2026. © 2026 Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP Photo (New York) – North Korea’s ninth Party Congress started on February 20, 2026, amid escalating repression of young people, strict control of information, and widespread forced labor, Human Rights Watch said today.The Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea is the country’s most important political meeting. Party Congresses have historically occurred irregularly: the last…

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