North Korea’s Kim admits mistakes

SEOUL: North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un admitted that "almost all sectors" had fallen short of their economic targets as he opened a rare congress of the ruling Workers’ Party, state media reported on Wednesday.

The gathering is the first of its kind in five years, only the eighth in the nuclear-armed country’s history, and comes weeks before US President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

Relations with Washington have been deadlocked since talks between Kim and President Donald Trump stalled over sanctions relief and what Pyongyang would be willing to give up in return.

At the same time, North Korea is more isolated than ever after closing its borders last January to protect itself against the coronavirus that first emerged in neighbour and key ally China.

The congress opened on Tuesday in the capital Pyongyang, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

Footage on state television showed 7,000 delegates and attendees packed into the cavernous hall -- none of them wearing masks -- rising as one to applaud Kim as he entered.

On the first day of his work review, Kim said that under the last five-year economic plan, "almost all sectors fell a long way short of the set objectives"