Secretive N Korean party opens up - for five minutes

North Korea's secretive ruling party briefly opened up to the world's media today, as a confident-looking Kim Jong-Un took centre stage at its rare top-level gathering.
Foreign journalists invited to cover the Workers' Party congress - the first for 36 years - had previously got no closer than 200 metres from the April 25 Palace, where some 3,400 delegates began meeting last Friday.
Today some of the 130 reporters invited to North Korea specifically to cover the event actually made it into the meeting, albeit for just five minutes.
The media invitation was not unique - journalists were allowed into the last congress in 1980, before Kim was born - but still rare for a nation which opens up only selectively.

The spectacle inside the palace was gripping political theatre.
Thousands of serious-looking men - plus the occasional woman - in sober suits, along with servicemen weighed down by chests-full of medals, occupied row after row of red seats in the cavernous hall.

As music blasted out, they rose to their feet in unison and began a round of thunderous applause when Kim, flanked by other top officials, strode onto the stage.
He waved to delegates as the clapping echoed around the hall.
The official head of state, Kim Yong-Nam, then announced senior posts in the party - including a new position of party chairman for leader Kim, seen as further bolstering his authority.

Journalists were ushered out after five minutes but the preparations for their brief visit had taken hours.
Security was intensely strict. Reporters who assembled at a nearby venue were patted down and checked minutely with a hand-held wand.
Cellphones and all potentially suspicious items, even metal ballpoint pens, were confiscated till after the meeting. Photographers' stepladders were banned.
Security staff made three further checks with hand-held wands at the April 25 Palace and equipment was scanned again.
Inside, a gleaming reception hall with marble columns and chandeliers featured a massive red carpet and a 50-metre-long backdrop with images of late leaders Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il, the current ruler's grandfather and father.

Long rows of congratulatory bouquets lined the opposite wall.
Before entering the congress hall, journalists were told not to photograph or film the notes which each delegate assiduously made of proceedings.