North Korea on Thursday urged officials to strengthen work discipline and loyalty to the regime ahead of an upcoming key party congress, calling it a "highly responsible" occasion in which their qualifications will be scrutinized. "Officials need to honorably face the party congress with proud achievements from their devoted service to the people," read the headline of an article carried by the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's most widely read newspaper, on Thursday. Their official positions are those "the party has assigned to them to carry a heavier burden for the people and to take on more tasks," the newspaper said, adding that good service for the people means "correctly capturing the wishes and intentions of the party and becoming a genuine loyalist." The call for heightened devotion and work discipline came as North Korea is expected to convene the ninth party congress in January or February, the first such convention since 2021, to formulate a long-term policy line reportedly covering diplomacy, the economy and other areas. The newspaper said the period leading up to the party congre