North Korea is likely to choose May 5 as the date to hold its first congress of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in more than three decades, a source close to the matter said Tuesday.

The North has previously said the party congress should take place in early May, but has yet to announce a date. 


South Korea's intelligence agency earlier said it would be held on May 7.

The source said that the party event is likely to be held next Thursday, possibly for three to four days.

It would be the country's first party congress since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took power in late 2011.

The last time the North convened the party congress was in October 1980, 36 years ago.

The party congress is widely expected to serve as a key event that will reveal the North leader's policy direction in his fifth year in power.

Kim has been selected to represent 12 cities and provinces and the military for the upcoming event, indicating his tight grip on power.

Experts said that the congress will be an occasion to reaffirm the leader's commitment to pursuing his signature policy of developing nuclear weapons in tandem with boosting its moribund economy, commonly known as the "byeongjin" policy.

The convention meets in the shadow of the toughest U.N. Security Council sanctions to date punishing the North for its nuclear test and long-range rocket launch earlier this year.

North Korea has mobilized ordinary citizens to prepare for it under the "70-day campaign of loyalty" and forced them to offer money to authorities, inviting growing discontent from its people, according to a government official here.

There is a high possibility that the North will hold the party congress without high-profile foreign guests as more countries are believed to plan to shun it amid toughened international pressure, a Seoul official added.

A total of 177 delegates from 118 countries, including China and Russia, attended the sixth party congress held in 1980, according to Seoul's unification ministry. At the fifth congress in 1970, there were no foreign guests. (Yonhap)