North Korea has tightened security ahead of its ruling party's congress, South Korea said Friday, with authorities keen to avoid any "mishap" at the gathering, at which advances in the drive for nuclear weapons will likely be hailed.
Thousands of delegates are expected in the capital, Pyongyang, from May 6 for the first congress in 36 years, at which young leader Kim Jong Un is expected to cement his leadership and formally declare the country a nuclear-armed state.
"Strengthening security can be seen as a measure to prevent mishaps over the party congress," Cheong Joon-hee, the spokesman at South Korea's Unification Ministry, which oversees dealings with the North, told a briefing.