Delegates to North Korea’s upcoming Ninth Congress of the ruling Workers’ Party received their official credentials in Pyongyang on Tuesday, signaling the country’s most important political gathering in five years is just days away.

The state-owned Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Wednesday that a ceremony to confer certificates to the participants took place the previous day at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the remains of former leaders’ are interred.

The event was held ahead of the opening of the Ninth Party Congress, which state media described as a major political occasionmarking “a new milestone of victory