Parliament convenes over national agenda

North Korea’s Parliament was scheduled to convene on Wednesday amid a series of diplomatic moves by leader Kim Jong Un that could have a major impact on the direction the country takes in the months and possibly years ahead.

Meetings of the full Supreme People’s Assembly are usually brief, once-a-year affairs intended to approve budgets, formalize personnel changes and rubber-stamp Kim’s policy priorities.

But this year’s session was being watched more closely because it was to begin just two weeks before Kim is to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and as Pyongyang and Washington are working out the details of a summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in late May or early June.

Kim just completed his first summit, with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing last month. His foreign minister is currently in Moscow, reportedly exploring the possibility of a summit with President Vladimir Putin.

Kim’s seemingly sudden switch from launching missiles at a record pace last year to exploring dialogue has generally been welcomed. But questions remain over how willing Kim might be to make serious compromises on his nuclear weapons program in return for security guarantees and the lifting of economic sanctions that are taking a big bite out of his country’s economy.

Pyongyang has been careful not to reveal its hand.

State media, which only announced the date of the assembly session last month, do not generally report about the meetings until they are over.

TOKYO: