North Korea, internationally isolated because of its nuclear weapons program, wants to overcome the economic difficulties with a new five-year plan.
The Central Committee of the ruling Labor Party decided yesterday at a meeting chaired by ruler Kim Jong Un to present the plan at a new party congress next January, state media reported today.
Admitted omissions
The participants admitted, according to the information, that the economy had not improved in the face of „unexpected multiple challenges“. The goal of noticeably increasing people’s standard of living was also not achieved.
At the eighth party congress, the work of the Central Committee should be reviewed “and a new five-year plan for economic development” should be presented, it said. A new leadership team of the Central Committee will also be elected.
Main body of the party
Formally, the Congress, which was originally supposed to be held every five years, is the party’s most important body. But the seventh congress in May 2016 was the first in 36 years. At that time, Kim was elected to the newly created post of party chairman, cementing his position at the top of the party.
Because of its nuclear weapons program, North Korea is subject to international sanctions that hamper the country’s economic development. The latest plenary session of the Central Committee reportedly analyzed the experiences and lessons of the work over the past five years to build a powerful socialist country.
At the next party congress, „a correct line of struggle and strategic and tactical politics“ should be presented.
