N. Korea's Kim urges 'big leap forward' at rare party congress

SEOUL • North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un issued a dire warning at the country's first ruling party congress in five years, saying development plans fell far short of their goals and that the party would explore a "new path" for making a "big leap forward".

The days-long Workers' Party congress on Tuesday - convened to draft a new economic plan - began shortly after Mr Kim skipped his usual New Year's Day address.

In his opening remarks, Mr Kim said the party's previous five-year development plan, which ended last year, missed its targets due to both "internal and external challenges", the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

"The goals we set were immensely underachieved in almost all sectors," Mr Kim said, according to KCNA, making a rare admission of fault by planners.

Remarks reported by state media did not mention any plans by Mr Kim to revive stalled negotiations with the United States to curtail Pyongyang's nuclear arms programme in exchange for easing the sanctions that are choking the state's paltry economy.

The gathering of 5,000 delegates and party officials is being closely watched for clues to how Mr Kim will approach the administration of US President-elect Joe Biden.

Mr Koh Yu-hwan, president of the government-funded Korea Institute for National Unification think-tank in Seoul, said North Korea would probably hint at its US and South Korea strategy in later congress meetings.

"North Korea may have calculated that the sanctions regime will last for a while," Mr Koh said. "It is finding problems internally to speed up the economic recovery, things North Korea can do during the sanctions regime."

Mr Kim is one of the few world leaders yet to congratulate - or even acknowledge - Mr Biden's electoral defeat of President Donald Trump, who dispensed with decades of US foreign policy to hold three meetings with the North Korean leader.

Mr Biden's camp has signalled more room for negotiations, and the President-elect's choice for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has backed a negotiated settlement with Pyongyang that freezes and then rolls back its nuclear programme in return for rewards.

State media also did not explain what Mr Kim's "big leap forward" would entail, other than that the congress would lay the groundwork for lifting living standards.

The meeting, where leadership changes are expected, comes as Mr Kim's battered economy was dealt further blows by natural disasters and his decision to shut borders due to the coronavirus outbreak.

North Korea's gross domestic product likely shrank by 8.5 per cent last year, according to a projection by Fitch Solutions, leaving it smaller than when Mr Kim took power in 2011 with a pledge to improve people's living standards.

Mr Kim has few options to turn around finances but a United Nations Security Council report said he has used illegal ship-to-ship transfers of contraband and cyber crimes to earn money.

Images of the congress in state media showed Mr Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong, seated a row behind the leader, easing recent speculation among observers that her power had been clipped after she led a contentious pressure campaign against South Korea.

Mr Kim also indicated that purges of cadres could be underway. Last year, he dressed down officials for falling short of goals, most prominently in July when he lashed out at the "careless budgeting" for a showcase hospital construction project in Pyongyang that had fallen behind schedule. The project appears to have been hit by a shortage of building materials, underscoring the difficulty he faces to improve living conditions while toiling under sanctions.

The North Korean leader's most recent public speech - at a military parade in October - featured a rare show of emotion, with him appearing to cry as he talked about the country's economic struggles under international sanctions.

He also rolled out several new weapons designed to strike American and allied forces, including what is believed to be the world's largest road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile.

"I am sceptical (Mr Kim) will discuss the new Biden administration in detail, if he even mentions it explicitly," said independent political analyst Rachel Minyoung Lee, who used to work for the US government in areas related to North Korea. "Kim will probably want to maintain flexibility as the new US administration formulates its North Korea policy."

BLOOMBERG