North Korean officials gathered Friday to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's state-run newspaper. (Yonhap)
North Korean officials gathered Friday to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's state-run newspaper. (Yonhap)

North Korea will convene a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in mid-December to discuss preparations for a key party congress, state media reported Saturday.

The WPK's political bureau has decided to hold the 13th party plenary meeting of the eighth central committee in mid-December, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

At the upcoming meeting, the North will review the execution of this year's party and state policies and "decide on a series of important issues including the preparations for the 9th party congress," according to the KCNA.

In recent years, North Korea has held a year-end party plenary meeting to set state policies for the new year. The North appears to advance such a key party meeting to mid-December to prepare for a party congress expected to be held in early next year.

What policy stance the North will lay out toward the United States and South Korea at the upcoming party congress is expected to draw attention as Washington and Seoul have expressed intents to engage with Pyongyang.

North Korea has not responded to US President Donald Trump's repeated expression of his wish to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his visit to South Korea in late October for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering.

At a key party meeting in late 2023, the North's leader Kim declared inter-Korean ties as those between "two states hostile to each other," and vowed not to seek reconciliation and unification with the South. (Yonhap)