SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea will convene a major political conference later this month, the country’s state media said Sunday, where leader Kim Jong Un is expected to outline his domestic and foreign policies for the next five years.
The ruling Workers’ Party congress, which Kim previously held in 2016 and 2021, comes after years of accelerated nuclear and missile development and deepening ties with Moscow over the war in Ukraine that have increased his standoffs with the United States and South Korea.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said the party’s political bureau met under Kim's supervision and decided the congress would be held in late February. State media did not immediately specify a date or release agenda details.
The congress will likely continue for days as a highly choreographed display of Kim’s authoritarian leadership. In recent weeks, Kim has inspected weapons tests and toured military sites and economic projects as state media highlighted his purported achievements, crediting his “immortal leadership” with strengthening the country’s military capabilities and advancing national development.
His recent activities and comments suggest Kim will use the congress to double down on economic development through “self-sustenance” and mass mobilization while announcing plans to further expand the capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, including upgrading conventional weapons systems and integrating them with nuclear forces.
Kim also could highlight his increasingly assertive foreign policy based on closer ties with Moscow and Beijing while hardening an adversarial approach toward rival South Korea as he continues to embrace the idea of a “new Cold War,” experts say.
Kim's willingness to resume diplomacy with the U.S. is unclear. Relations derailed in 2019 after his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump due to disagreements over sanctions against his nuclear weapons program.
Kim has rejected Trump’s overtures for dialogue since the U.S. president began his second term in January 2025. Kim insists Washington abandon demands for the North to surrender its nuclear weapons as a precondition for future talks.
Entering his 15th year in rule, Kim finds himself in a stronger position than when he opened the previous congress in 2021 during the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic. Navigating what was seen as his toughest stretch in a decade of power, Kim acknowledged his previous economic policies failed and issued a new five-year development plan through 2025.
He called for accelerated development of his nuclear arsenal and issued an extensive wish list of sophisticated assets including solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, multi-warhead systems, tactical nuclear weapons, spy satellites and nuclear-powered submarines.
Kim has exploited geopolitical turmoil to his advantage. He used Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a window to accelerate weapons testing and align himself with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has accepted thousands of North Korean troops and large quantities of military equipment for the war.
Kim also has pursued closer ties with China, traditionally the North’s primary ally and economic lifeline. He traveled to Beijing in September for a World War II event and the first summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in six years.
While Kim’s strict information blockade prevents precise assessments, South Korean analysts say the North's economy appears to have improved over the past five years, possibly due to a gradual recovery in trade with China and an industrial boost from arms exports to Russia.
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, attends a meeting at the headquarters of the central committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang, North Korea Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, with his daughter, believed to be named Kim Ju Ae, inspects test-firing of ballistic missiles from an undisclosed location in North Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
CINCINNATI (AP) — President Donald Trump toured an Ohio pharmaceutical company on Wednesday and planned to campaign in the nearby Kentucky district of a Republican in Congress he'd like to see defeated — attempting to project political and economic strength as war in Iran has scrambled financial markets and hurt his poll numbers.
Trump toured Thermo Fisher Scientific in suburban Cincinnati, talking up his administration's efforts to persuade major manufacturers to lower prescription medication prices so that they are closer to what is charged abroad.
“I used some very strong negotiating talent to get every single country to almost immediately approve. I threatened them with tariffs," he told reporters.
The Supreme Court recently struck down sweeping tariffs that Trump's administration had imposed around the world to boost his economic policies. But the president used an executive order to restore some levies, and says his push to lower drug costs can help Republicans ahead of November's midterms.
His trip, however, was overshadowed by the military action in Iran, which Trump said was “an excursion that will keep us out of a war." He added of Tehran, “for them, it’s a war. For us, it’s turned out to be easier than we thought.”
The president also acknowledged stock markets that have been volatile as gas prices have risen, saying, “I figured we’d be hit a little bit. But, we were hit probably less than I thought.”
“We’ll be back on track in a pretty short while,” Trump continued. "Prices are coming down very substantially. Oil will be coming down.”
He called the turmoil “just a matter of war,” saying “that happens,” while adding, “I would say it went up a little bit less than we thought.”
Trump was next heading to the district of Rep. Thomas Massie, one of the few congressional Republicans who has dared defy Trump on Iran and other major issues. Trump has endorsed a GOP primary challenger to Massie, Ed Gallrein.
The trip is an early test of Trump's ability to cleanse his party of those who oppose him, but also to try to stay on an economic message increasingly strained by the military action launched by the U.S. and Israel against Iran.
“We have hit them harder than virtually any country in history has been hit," Trump said as he left the White House on Wednesday, "and we’re not finished yet.”
Polls showed that Americans were increasingly wary of Trump's handling of the economy even before the conflict with Iran began, and fighting there has derailed Trump’s messaging, as the low gas prices he once bragged about are now surging and stocks that had set record highs have slipped.
Employers also cut an unexpectedly high 92,000 jobs in February, and revisions trimmed another 69,000 jobs from December and January payrolls — which the White House had previously hailed as “blockbuster."
After Democrats pushing the message that the everyday cost of living remained too high won the Virginia and New Jersey governors' races in November, the White House announced that Trump would travel the country more frequently. It was an attempt to show that he’s taking kitchen table issues seriously and reassure voters nervous about still-rising prices and economic growth.
Since then, the president has made stops in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Texas — though his speeches have sometimes been more focused on his own political grievances than on his plans to help lower everyday costs across the country.
This trip, however, marks the first time in this primary cycle that Trump has sought to keep promises to punish members of his own party who oppose him on key issues.
The president has endorsed Gallerin, a farmer, businessman and retired Navy SEAL, who is running against Massie in Kentucky's Republican primary on May 19.
Massie is an outspoken Trump critic who opposed the White House-backed tax and spending measure and bucked Trump by pushing to have files related to the sex trafficking investigations into Jeffrey Epstein released.
He's also criticized the U.S. strike on Venezuela that toppled then-President Nicolás Maduro and, most recently, the war in Iran.
Trump posted on his social media site during his Wednesday trip, “The Republican Party’s Worst ‘Congressman,’ EVER, Thomas Massie."
Massie has not been overly critical of Trump's visit, suggesting that he hoped the president would be working for the district. But he told the Cincinnati Inquirer that Trump's endorsement is “all my opponent has going for him." adding that Gallerin “has promised to be a rubber stamp when he gets to Washington D.C. and I don't think people here want a rubber stamp."
President Donald Trump speaks as he visits Thermo Fisher Scientific, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump poses for a photo during a visit to Thermo Fisher Scientific, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before departing on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before departing on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before departing on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before departing on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One, Monday, March 9, 2026, at Miami International Airport in Miami. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
