NKorea to unveil new economic plans in January party meeting

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea will hold a rare ruling party congress in January where leader Kim Jong Un will announce a new five-year plan to develop the country’s dismal economy ravaged by U.S.-led sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic, state media said Thursday.

The plans were confirmed Wednesday during a plenary meeting of the Workers’ Party’s decision-making Central Committee where Kim acknowledged economic shortcomings caused by “unexpected and inevitable challenges in various aspects and the situation in the region surrounding the Korean Peninsula.”

The report by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency didn’t directly mention nuclear diplomacy with the United States, which has stalled over disagreements in exchanging sanctions relief and denuclearization steps.

The Workers’ Party last convened for a full congress in 2016, which was its first in 36 years, where Kim announced his initial five-year national development plan, which included goals for improving power supply and increasing agricultural and manufacturing production.

Entering the plan’s final year, Kim during the Central Committee’s last plenary meeting in December declared a “frontal breakthrough” against sanctions while urging his nation to stay resilient in the struggle for economic self-reliance.

But experts say the COVID-19 crisis has clearly derailed some of Kim’s major economic goals after North Korea imposed a lockdown that significantly reduced trade with China — its major ally and economic lifeline — and likely hampered its ability to mobilize its workforce.

It's also possible Kim could use the party congress, which would take place after the U.S. presidential election in November, to announce a new foreign policy approach toward the United...