North Korea convened the Socialist Patriotic Youth League (Youth League) convention for the first time in five years, emphasizing the role of youth organizations in achieving the goals set at the 9th Party Congress.
The Workers’ Party’s official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, reported on May 1 that the 11th Congress of the Socialist Patriotic Youth League was held in Pyongyang from April 28 to 30.
This convention, the first since 2021, was attended by key officials including Kim Jae-ryong, Ri Il-hwan, and Ju Chang-il from the Party Central Committee, as well as Kim Sung-ki, the chief of the military’s General Political Bureau.
The agenda included discussions on the Youth League Central Committee’s work summary, amendments to the Youth League charter, and elections for the central leadership.
During this event, Mun Chol stepped down as chairman, with former vice-chairman Baek Eun-cheol elected as the new leader. The newly appointed vice-chairmen include Kim Ju-hyuk, Park Myung-jin, Wang Cheol-woo, Kim Sung-il, Ri Myung-hyuk, and Kim Sung-il.
The newspaper described the convention as a crucial step in transforming the Youth League into a loyal vanguard of the Party, aligning with the Party’s expectations for millions of young people to contribute to the nation’s prosperity.
The Central Committee of the Workers’ Party expressed high expectations for the youth and Youth League organizations nationwide through a congratulatory message, proposing practical measures to make the next five years a powerful catalyst for the Korean youth movement.
The newspaper also highlighted the loyalty of North Korean troops deployed to Russia, stating that even now, the combatants of overseas operation units, who have faithfully followed the Party’s orders and rushed to distant battlefields, are writing a history of victories with their blood. It praised them as exemplary patriotic youth showcasing the heroism of Korean youth in the Kim Jong Un era.
Additionally, the newspaper reported that on April 30, students held a night rally and torch march in Pyongyang to commemorate the Youth League convention. Photos showed young people gathered in Kim Il-sung Square, marching while forming phrases like Patriotic Youth and Following the Party Central Committee for Thousands of Miles with their torches.
The Youth League is one of North Korea’s peripheral organizations that promotes the regime’s ideology and is not an official state affairs body. Along with the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea, the Socialist Women’s Union, and the Agricultural Workers’ Union, it is one of the four major labor organizations tasked with disseminating and implementing Party policies among citizens. Youth, women, workers, and farmers are required to join these respective organizations.
Since the 9th Party Congress in February, North Korea has been actively holding conventions for its peripheral organizations. These meetings appear to discuss specific measures to implement the Party’s decisions on domestic and foreign policy goals for the next five years.
Professor Lim Eum-chul from Kyungnam University’s Institute for East Asian Studies noted that the Kim Jong Un regime’s core task is to instill a patriotic spirit in the youth, positioning them as a major driving force for national development. He highlighted that the most notable aspect of this convention was the direct mention of young military personnel participating in overseas operations, elevating them as symbols of revolutionary spirit.
While past North Korean youth movements drew inspiration from domestic symbols like the Chollima Era or Paektu Mountain Hero Youth, the regime now portrays youth deployed in overseas military operations, particularly in Russia, as national role models.
Professor Lim further explained that the Central Committee’s emphasis on corruption and decay, deviant lifestyles, and the mask of trends in their congratulatory message indicates that preventing ideological deviation among the youth remains a critical priority for North Korean authorities.