North Korean leader Kim Jong Un showcased dozens of new rocket launchers designed for a “strategic mission” as the country prepares to hold a rare party congress in the coming days to lay out its key policy agenda for the next five years.

North Korea’s munitions industry presented 50 600mm-caliber multiple rocket launchers to the Ninth Congress of the ruling Workers’ Party, the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Thursday.

“This is a focused strike weapon, the most powerful in the world,” Kim said in a speech at a ceremony in Pyongyang on Wednesday, according to the state media. “It is a multiple launch rocket system, but it can be said to be a weapon that has virtually no difference from a high-precision ballistic missile in terms of precision and power.”

A photo released by KCNA showed the North Korean leader, clad in a black leather jacket, smiling in the driver’s seat of a mobile launcher as a large crowd waved North Korean flags.

The muscle-flexing took place as delegates to the party congress, the first such event in five years, arrived in Pyongyang this week with state media saying preparations for the meeting were finished. North Korea earlier said the event would take place in late February.

The gathering is being closely watched for clues regarding Kim’s development priorities and policy direction for the next five years as nuclear talks with the U.S. remain stalled.

Kim said last month he would “clarify the next-stage plans for further bolstering the country’s nuclear war deterrent” at the next party gathering.

The congress is expected to meet for several days, putting together a new five-year economic plan, possibly making leadership changes in addition to laying out development plans. At its last gathering in January 2021, Kim issued a dire warning, saying the nation had fallen far short of achieving the goals laid out in the previous five-year plan, and the party would explore a new path to accomplish a “big leap forward.”

Kim is convening this year’s party meeting against a starkly different backdrop, having emerged as a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin by supporting his war against Ukraine. In September, Kim stood shoulder to shoulder with Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a military parade held in Beijing, transforming his image from that of an isolated pariah to a global player.

President Donald Trump has said he’s willing to sit down for discussions with Kim again, but Pyongyang maintains that Washington must drop its denuclearization demand as a precondition before it will resume any dialogue.

South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung has also taken a series of steps to improve inter-Korean ties since taking office in June. In its latest efforts, Seoul expressed regret to North Korea on Wednesday over a series of drone incursions carried out by South Korean civilians.

Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, said she highly appreciates the acknowledgment in a rare conciliatory tone on Thursday that shows these efforts have not gone unnoticed. Still, there’s been little in the way of visible concrete progress in their frosty relationship. In her comments, Kim’s sister also said that North Korea would heighten “vigilance in all sectors along the southern border” with South Korea.

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