NKorea leader holds Workers' Party committee meeting

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un urged members of his Workers' Party on Monday to push forward with a five-year economic plan to kick-start his nation, which continues to be battered by sanctions and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Kim's comments at a plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee in Pyongyang come after he had admitted at a rare congress in January that his economic development plans had failed, according to state media.

During the session, Kim also criticised unspecified government agencies over their "passive and self-protecting tendencies" and urged those departments to organise "economic work in an innovative and meticulous way," state media reported. Members of the Central Committee usually gather for a plenary session at least once a year to discuss policy and other major issues.