Pyongyang
\nNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un put the economy front and centre of an agenda-setting speech at the end of a key ruling-party meeting, state media reported Saturday, with no mention of the United States.
\nInstead of the policy positions on diplomacy for which Kim\u2019s New Year statements have been closely watched in recent years, he focused on food and development at a plenary of the Workers\u2019 Party of Korea.
\nThe impoverished, nuclear-armed nation has been under a rigid self-imposed coronavirus blockade that has hammered its economy and left it struggling with food shortages.
\n\u201cAchieving an epoch-making step in resolving issues related to the people\u2019s daily necessities was presented as an important task,\u201d the official Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a report on Kim\u2019s speech.
\nThe pandemic and resulting border closure saw the North record its biggest economic contraction in over two decades in 2020, according to the South Korean central bank.
\nConcerns have grown about a full-blown food crisis in the country, and a United Nations human rights expert warned in October that the most vulnerable were \u201cat risk of starvation\u201d.
\nKim, who took power just over a decade ago after the death of his father Kim Jong Il, said at the party meeting that battling the pandemic was one of the main goals for the coming year.
\n\u201cEmergency anti-epidemic measures must be placed as a top national priority and be vigorously carried out… without even a minor slack, gap or loophole,\u201d he said according to KCNA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pyongyang North Korean leader Kim Jong Un put the economy front and centre of an agenda-setting speech at the end of a key ruling-party meeting, state media reported Saturday, with no mention of the United States. Instead of the policy positions on diplomacy for which Kim\u2019s New Year statements have been closely watched in recent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-236289","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n