The first Congress in more than four years will take place amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a change in US President.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un chaired a Politburo meeting in early January to prepare for a rare party conference that is expected to set new economic and political goals for the country, the state media reported on Wednesday.
The meeting on Tuesday approved agendas and proposals to be presented at Congress – the first in more than four years by the ruling Labor Party – and agreed to hold the event early next month, state news agency KCNA reported, without giving an exact To indicate the date.
North Korea faced a number of challenges in 2020, with COVID-19 and a series of typhoons, adding pressure to an economy already ravaged by international sanctions to end its nuclear program.
With the departure of President Donald Trump, who attended several historic meetings with Chairman Kim Jong Un, and the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden in January, the country is also facing a new face in the White House.
The Politburo agreed to hold the Labor Party’s next congress in early January, but the state media did not confirm a date [KCNA/via Reuters]North Korea has not commented on the change in leadership in the United States, and it is not yet clear what Biden’s presidency will mean for Washington-Pyongyang relations.
In October, Kim called on his country to launch an 80-day campaign in front of Congress to achieve his goals in all economic sectors.
“All preparations for the party congress are going smoothly,” reported KCNA.
The congress was last held in 2016, when Kim announced the first five-year economic plan since the 1980s, pledging not to use nuclear weapons unless the country’s sovereignty has been violated by others with nuclear weapons. It was also when Kim was officially elected chairman of the ruling Labor Party.
North Korea says there have been no coronavirus cases, but it has also closed its borders to almost all traffic to prevent an outbreak.
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