 At this congress, Kim Il-sung designated his son Kim Jong-il as his successor. The move was criticized by the South Korean media and ruling communist parties of the socialist states in Eastern Europe and Asia because it was considered nepotist. The congress also saw the WPK and North Korea move away from orthodox communism by emphasizing the Juche idea over Marxism – Leninism, giving the party a nationalistic bent. The next party congress was not convened before 2016, despite party rules that stipulated that a congress had to be held every fifth year.
