Leader of North Korea Kim Jong Un has called a rare congress of the ruling Workers’ Party for January to address policy “shortcomings” and layout a new five-year plan for the isolated nation’s moribund economy.
Kim made the announcement at a full meeting of the party’s central committee on Wednesday, where he “assessed achievements and shortcomings” since the last congress in 2016, the official KCNA news agency reported Thursday.
Goals for improving national economy delayed admits North Korea
In unusually frank terms for Pyongyang, the meeting concluded “the goals for improving the national economy have been seriously delayed”, and living standards had not been “remarkably” improved.
Kim said there had been “unexpected and inevitable challenges in various aspects and the situation in the region surrounding the Korean peninsula”.
The UN Security Council, US, EU and others have imposed sanctions on the North over its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, which have made rapid progress under Kim’s leadership.
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The acknowledgement of falling short was “intended to justify the regime’s expected failure to achieve the economic goals it set out earlier”, Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP.
The timing of the meeting in January, close to the inauguration of the winner of November’s US presidential election, was intended as a signal, he added.
Nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington have been stalled since the collapse of a Hanoi summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump last year.
The meeting ended without a deal after the two sides disagreed on what the North would be willing to give up in exchange for sanctions relief.
North Korea is “telling the US whoever wins the coming election, the new president should accelerate efforts to reach a deal”, Hong said.
Kim Jong-un was speaking at a multi-day gathering of party leaders in Pyongyang – unusual for this time of the year.
The comments come amid concerns that the North could end negotiations on denuclearisation with the US, and restart major weapons testing.
The US has said it would be “extraordinarily disappointed” by that.
Kim Jong-un was speaking at a multi-day gathering of party leaders in Pyongyang – unusual for this time of the year.
The comments come amid concerns that the North could end negotiations on denuclearisation with the US, and restart major weapons testing.
The US has said it would be “extraordinarily disappointed” by that.
ANALYSIS: Major agricultural reforms aim to inspire farmers to produce more food, but not without age-old command and control.
On the future of North Korean farming (from NK Pro):https://t.co/WrPs2Pmivn
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While the phrase “positive and offensive measures” is vague, it seems to imply further bolstering of North Korea’s weapons programme – tactical or strategic, or both – says Minyoung Lee from specialist site NK News.
“State media’s coverage of the plenum [meeting] tomorrow, or Kim Jong-un’s New Year’s speech, will likely lend further insight into Kim’s next course of action,” she added.
Kim calls for regular convening of party
There was a 36-year interval between the sixth and seventh congresses of the Workers’ Party, a gap which included the entire rule of Kim’s father Kim Jong Il.
Kim called for “regularly convening the congresses of the Party”, KCNA reported, a sign that Pyongyang is likely to hold the meetings according to a more fixed timetable in future.
NEW: Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, appears to have missed another important meeting on Wednesday — her second such absence since being left out of a key Political Bureau meeting on Aug. 13. https://t.co/wODQ92bFUy
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The party’s mouthpiece newspaper Rodong Sinmun carried several pictures of Kim addressing the meeting, where all attendees wore white.
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But Seoul’s spy agency later told lawmakers that he had delegated some authority to his sister Kim Yo Jong and others to relieve his “governance stress”.
The moves — with Yo Jong handling relations with the South and the US, and others dealing with the economy and military — also aimed to “avoid responsibility” in case of policy failures, South Korean lawmaker Ha Tae-keung cited the National Intelligence Service as telling legislators.
“For example, Kim Yo Jong would get a report on the strategy toward the South and the US, and then it will be submitted to Kim Jong Un,” said Ha, from the main opposition United Future Party.
The intelligence agency has a mixed record with its past pronouncements on developments in the North.
AFP with additional input by GVS News Desk