North Korea: Kim Jong-un announces an exceptional new Congress of the Workers' Party

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaking to the Workers Party Central Committee on August 20, 2020. KCNA via REUTERS

Text by: Jelena Tomic Follow

2 min

In North Korea, a plenary session of the Workers' Party was held on Wednesday August 19. There was an important announcement: the convening of the 8th party congress next January. This is a rare event, as is the confession of leader Kim Jong-un, who admitted "failures" on the political level.

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During his address to the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, Kim Jong-un made remarks of rare frankness. He admitted that he had not been able to achieve the economic objectives set at the previous congress in 2016, nor to improve the lives of the people.

The strong man from Pyongyang has called a new exceptional party congress for next January, two months after the US presidential election, which is no coincidence.

Relaunch the dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang

According to analysts, North Korea would thus suggest that "  whoever wins the next election, the new president should accelerate efforts to reach an agreement and relaunch the currently stalled dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang  ".

Kim Jong-un also intends to present a new five-year plan to boost the economy. An economy affected by multiple international sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council to force Pyongyang to give up its nuclear and ballistic programs.

To read also : Whoever its leader, Washington wants a denuclearized North Korea

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  • North Korea
  • Kim Jong-un

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