Representatives from various regions and the Party Central Committee attending North Korea’s 9th Workers’ Party Congress were spotted wearing red name tags for the first time. This change suggests a revamped identity verification system for major events like party congresses, potentially reflecting institutional similarities with China, as reported on Tuesday.
NK News, a U.S.-based media outlet focusing on North Korean affairs, reported that photographs from the party congress revealed attendees wearing red name tags on their left chests. These tags featured their photos, names, and titles – a first for such an event.
The outlet noted that this marks the first instance of congress delegates wearing standardized meeting badges, indicating a new measure to enhance identity verification within the conference hall.
During the 8th Party Congress in January 2021, participants received red booklets called participation certificates instead of name tags. This time, however, attendees were seen carrying both the previous participation certificates and the new name tags.
Peter Ward, a researcher at the Sejong Institute, told NK News that this measure reflects the extensive institutional similarities between North Korea and China. He observed that under Kim Jong Un’s leadership, party congresses have been formalized again, mirroring practices in China. Ward added that the custom of Central Committee members wearing badges with their names and photos appears to be directly borrowed from China.
NK News analysis revealed that the design of these red name tags closely resembles those used at Chinese Communist Party congresses. The layout features the photo on the right, the participant’s name and title on the left, and the party emblem positioned above the photo.
Furthermore, footage from Korean Central Television showed that observers at the 9th Party Congress were seated at the back of the conference hall. They wore blue name tags, distinguishing their rank from the official representatives in the front rows who sported red tags.
