North Korea Workers’ Party Congress To Start Friday

CNN: North Korea prepares for highest political gathering in 3 decades

Pyongyang, North Korea (CNN)The sound of loudspeakers blaring at 6 a.m. is something I've come to expect when traveling to the North Korean capital. The citywide alarm signals the beginning of each new workday. But on this particular morning, the wake-up call went off an hour earlier -- at 5.

For more than two months, most Pyongyang citizens have been expected to rise early and go to bed late. Sometimes they go without sleep at all, so they can fully maximize productivity during the "70-day battle" -- a nationwide call to action by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The grueling hours are part of a massive state-mandated drive to prepare Pyongyang for a once-in-a-generation political gathering that begins at 9 a.m. on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET Thursday) in a convention center called "April 25 House of Culture," officials tell CNN.

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More News On North Korea Workers’ Party Congress

Finishing touches in North Korea capital ahead of rare party meeting -- Reuters
North Korea readies for rare party congress amid possibility of another nuclear test -- Japan Times/AFP
North Korea Set to Celebrate Kim Jong Un’s Era -- VOA
Inside North Korea, Workers Get Set for Party Meeting -- Bloomberg
North Korea Workers’ Party Congress: Reclusive Nation’s Top Meeting To Start Friday -- IBTimes
North Korea to Hold First Communist 'Party Congress' in 36 Years -- ABC News
Inside the Rare Meeting of North Korea’s Communist Elite -- Charlie Campbell, Time
A Rare Congress and Mixed Signals in North Korea: Analysis -- Stratfor
Why is North Korea holding its first party conference in three decades? -- The Telegraph
A history of North Korea's party congresses – what should we expect? -- Fyodor Tertitsky for NK News/The Guardian