Who attended North Korea’s 81st Workers’ Party founding anniversary performance?

Kim Jong-un attended the performance at Pyongyang Indoor Stadium, accompanied by Ri Sol-ju and Kim Ju-ae. Diplomatic envoys, members of foreign missions, senior party and military officials, and Pyongyang citizens also attended.

Why was North Korea’s 81st Workers’ Party anniversary celebration modest?

North Korea treats anniversaries ending in zero or five as milestone years and has traditionally marked them with large military parades, mass gymnastics displays and weapons exhibitions. The 81st anniversary did not fall into that milestone category.

What did North Korea unveil at the previous year’s Workers’ Party anniversary parade?

At the previous year’s large-scale anniversary celebration, North Korea held a late-night military parade at Kim Il Sung Square and unveiled the Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile.

N. Korea marks party anniversary on modest scale

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Summary

North Korea held a celebration performance in Pyongyang on Saturday marking the 81st founding anniversary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, with leader Kim Jong-un in attendance. Patriotic songs, acrobatics and dance emphasized loyalty to the party and Kim. The event was modest compared with milestone anniversaries, and Kim did not issue a commemorative statement.

Key Facts

The performance took place at Pyongyang Indoor Stadium and was attended by diplomatic envoys, foreign mission members, senior party and military officials, and Pyongyang citizens.
A photo released by KCNA showed Kim Jong-un accompanied by his wife Ri Sol-ju and daughter Kim Ju-ae.
North Korea traditionally stages large military parades, mass gymnastics displays and weapons exhibitions for anniversaries ending in zero or five.
The previous year’s 80th anniversary celebrations included a late-night military parade at Kim Il Sung Square where North Korea unveiled the Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile.

By Yonhap

Published Oct 11, 2026 7:44 am KST

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends a celebration performance for the 81st founding anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea Pyongyang Indoor Stadium, Saturday, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) the next day. Yonhap

North Korea has held a celebration performance for the 81st founding anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea, with leader Kim Jong-un in attendance, state media reported Sunday.

Patriotic songs, acrobatics and dance filled Pyongyang Indoor Stadium the previous day in a show that stressed loyalty to the party and Kim, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Kim, whom the article described as "representing the dignity and mightiness" of the country, waved to the audience "as a token of his congratulations to all the participants on the party founding day" and expressed satisfaction with the performance, the KCNA said.

A photo released by the KCAN shows Kim's wife, Ri Sol-ju, and daughter, Kim Ju-ae, accompanying him.

Diplomatic envoys and members of foreign missions sat alongside senior party and military officials and Pyongyang citizens, according to the report.

Kim did not issue a statement marking the anniversary.

The performance capped a series of events and gatherings marking this year's anniversary, which were modest in scale.

North Korea considers anniversaries ending in zero or five to be milestone years, and has traditionally marked them with large-scale military parades, mass gymnastics displays and weapons exhibitions.

Last year, it staged a massive late-night military parade at Kim Il Sung Square, unveiling the Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile.

A separate KCNA dispatch said party officials visited the Party Founding Museum where they were briefed on Kim's October 2025 visit to the museum, without specifying when they went.

The report said Kim "is ushering in a great heyday of building our Party in the new era and achieving comprehensive national rejuvenation."

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