North Korean leader Kim Jong Un initiated the country’s first ruling party congress in five years, during which he admitted the government’s policy failures. He further promised to formulate new developmental goals for North Korea, said the Korean Central News Agency report.

The Workers’ Party Congress convened in Pyongyang on Tuesday with thousands of delegates and observers in attendance. Kim said during his speech that the goals set in 2016 “were not met in almost all areas to a great extent. We should further promote and expand the successes and victories that we’ve achieved through our painstaking efforts but prevent us from having the painful lessons again,” he said.

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Kim kept forth a new five-year plan and reviewed the present status of North Korea’s metal, chemical, electric, and other key industries that can be developed in the future.

This comes as the country had to face “multiple crises” unleashed by the pandemic, series of natural disasters, and US sanctions. Kim described the crises as “the worst of all” and “unprecedented.”

According to analyst Song Jaeguk at Seoul’s IBK Economic Research Institute, North Korea’s GDP contracted by 9.3 per cent in 2020, as per media reports.

“I can’t think about any words to describe how difficult situation the North Koreans are going through now, rather than saying they’re suffering tremendously. If the coronavirus pandemic continues, they’ll suffer harder,” Song said.

Published on January 6, 2021