Compared to 2016, North Korea has been much quieter ahead of its upcoming Party Congress in Jan. 2021, NK News analysis shows.

Preparations for the upcoming congress have been relatively low profile — probably due to a combination of COVID-19, mounting economic problems and an uncertain future going into 2021, analysts told NK News.

In the month leading up to the Seventh Party Congress in May 2016, North Korea conducted four sets of missile-related tests, provincial elections were held to determine which delegates would go to the event and various congress-related construction projects were completed.

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