To thunderous applause in the capital's cavernous House of Culture, Kim Jong-Un laid out what he claimed were the great successes of his leadership so far.
He lauded the country’s "first hydrogen bomb test", its launch of an "earth observation satellite" - "landmarks in the nation's history," he said, that would defend the "dignity" and "self-reliance" of the nation.
Both were in breach of existing Security Council resolutions, the latter widely seen as a test of banned long-range missile technology, and have resulted in more sanctions on this already impoverished and tightly-sanctioned country.
Foreign journalists watch Kim's speech from a hotel's media room
But that's not the way it's being reported here.
North Korea's state television showed sweeping camera angles of the young leader addressing the party faithful, his generals roaring their approval, trembling, tearful officials overcome with the emotion of it all.
Unsurprisingly, there was no suggestion that any of the country's problems might be related to his actions - instead Mr Kim blamed the "unprecedentedly hard times" on the collapse of the world socialist system.
"The allied imperialist forces concentrated their anti-socialist offensive on our Republic, our Party and people were compelled to fight against them single-handed."
In other words - this is an ideological struggle, his country the last bastion of the great socialist dream, and he the one man who can defend it against the capitalist enemies he insists are ranged beyond the border.
His version of reality is the only reality here - in this authoritarian, one-party state, no other perspectives are permitted.
Sky News has been allowed in to the country to report from the capital, but under the close supervision of government-assigned minders, and nowhere near the congress itself.
On Friday we were allowed to film the building from a distance, but that was as close as we got.
Today, as the congress entered its second day, we were taken to film a tourist park outside Pyongyang.
We were led through manicured gardens, past gleaming ponds, at one point there was a musical tree.
Guides in flowing traditional dresses showed us around a gallery of paintings of the "Eternal President" (Kim Jong Un's grandfather) Kim Il Sung.
In reverential tones, they described his heroic exploits as an anti-Japanese resistance fighter, his selfless sacrifice for the country's liberation.
The founding president is worshipped as a god here - no other forms of religion are allowed.
One journalist was forced to delete a photo from his phone that was judged to be improperly framed, cutting off part of the face of the late Kim Jong-Il, it would offend the great leaders, he was told.
As we walked, I tried to ask our guide about the path her leader is pursuing - unsurprisingly, with our phalanx of dark-suited officials looking on, she declared her unfaltering admiration.
The country's pursuit of nuclear weapons, she insisted, was the only way to keep it safe.
Wasn't that pursuit bringing more sanctions though, I asked, making people's lives here harder, the country even poor?
"Seeing is believing," she told me, people should come here and "see the truth" for themselves.
We would very much like to, but unfortunately our view is strictly-controlled.
