North Korea Set For Kim Jong-Un 'Coronation'

We weren't told where we were going - our minder said we'd find out on the way.

We'd been warned not to be late to the bus and to make sure we brought all our camera equipment with us.

North Korea was opening its first party congress in 36 years - technically a meeting of the country's workers' party, but really this is about the veneration of one man - Kim Jong-Un.

The congress has been likened to a coronation - a chance for the young leader to consolidate his authority, and his place in the country's history.

Foreign journalists have been allowed to cover it in Pyongyang - but under predictably tight control.

Our equipment was thoroughly examined on the way in to the country, and our two-person team has been assigned two North Korean minders.

Security around the capital has been strengthened. Our vehicle was stopped and checked at a roadblock on the way into Pyongyang last night.

Weddings and funerals have apparently been halted for the duration.

Citizens have been mobilised to help prepare the city - required to take part in a 70-day Campaign of Loyalty leading up to the event, demonstrating their devotion through extra duties and unpaid labour.

The streets are spotless and lined with Democratic People's Republic of Korea bunting and flags.

Delegates are being moved in convoys of buses through the streets under police escort. In one case they were preceded by a van blaring out patriotic revolutionary music through loudspeakers.

Windows and balconies along the route have been decorated with plastic flowers, interspersed with banners and revolutionary artwork wishing a "happy congress".

As for our delegation of international media - we quickly reached the limits of our access.

We were led to a large road junction in central Pyongyang, from where we could see where the congress was happening, or more accurately, the outside of the building in the distance, in which the congress was happening.

From our vantage point on the far side of a six-lane highway, we could see the huge portraits of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il, and the red banners of the April 25th House of Culture (the congress venue - named for the founding date of the Korean People's Army) and the outer perimeter of security, but precious little else.

Wearing our obligatory bright blue "press" armbands, and with our dark-suited minders looking on, perhaps unsurprisingly, everyone we spoke to was unanimous in their praise and adulation of Kim Jong-Un.

One retired lady we spoke to seemed to be on the verge of tears, almost visibly trembling with emotion as she described the great leadership of her president.

Perhaps more tellingly, two teenage boys we spoke to said they want to grow up to join the army - to become great generals to defend the country like Kim Jong-Un.

And that is what people here are being told - that their country is under threat from external enemies who would destroy it - and that the only man who can defend their dignity and their sovereignty is Kim Jong-Un.