Kimadmits failures, opens rare North Korean congress

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un admitted that his economicdevelopmentplans have failed as he opened the nation’s first full ruling party congress in five years, state media reportedWednesday.

In an opening speech at the congress thatbeganTuesday, Kim said that “almost all sectors fell a long way short of the set objectives” under a previous five-year development plan established at the 2016 congress, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.

“We should further promote and expand the victories and successes we have gained at the cost of sweat and blood, and prevent the painful lessons from being repeated,” he was quoted as saying.

The Workers’ Party Congress, one of the North’s biggest propaganda spectacles, is meant to help Kim show a worried nation that he’s firmly in control and to boost unity behind his leadership in the face of COVID19 and other growing economic challenges.

But some observers are skeptical that the stage-managed congress will find any fundamental solutions to North Korea’s difficulties, many of which stem from decades of economic mismanagementandKim’sheadlong pursuit of expensive nuclear weapons meant to target the U.S. mainland.

Kim, 36, is holding the congress, which is expected to last a few days, amid what may be the toughest challenge of his nine-year rule andwhat he has called“multiple crises.”

Authoritarian NorthKorea is one of the poorest countries in Asia, and the already besieged economy is being hammered by pandemic-related border closings with China, the North’s major economic lifeline, the fallout from a series of natural disasters last summer and persistentU.S.-led sanctions over the nuclear program.

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, who takes office later in January, will likely maintain the sanctions and avoid any directmeeting with Kim until North Korea takes significant steps toward denuclearization.

The congress met in Pyongyang to determine “a fresh line of struggle and strategic and tactical policies,” with thousands of delegates and observers in attendance, KCNAreported.

In hi s speech, Kim described the present difficulties facing his governmentas “theworst-ever” and “unprecedented,” according to KCNA.

Kim called for a newfiveyear plan and reviewed the present status of North Korea’smetal, chemical, electric and other key industries and set unspecified tasks for future development, KCNA said.

It’s not the first time for Kim has been candid about flawed systems and policies. Last August, he acknowledged economic “shortcomings” causedby “unexpected and inevitable challenges.” Also last year he said that

North Korea lacks modern medical facilities and that anti-disaster conditions in coastal areas is “poor.”

Few experts doubt Kim’s grip on power. But a prolonged coronavirus-related lockdown may be further destabilizing food and foreign exchange markets and aggravating livelihoods in NorthKorea. That could possibly lessen Kim’s authority, some observers say.

Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said that “the fundamental problem” is that “Kimwants regime-sustaining economic growth while retaining nuclearweapons.”

“Pyongyang is thus likely to demand sanctions relief formerely reducing tensions rather than making progress on denuclearization,” he said.

U.S.-led sanctions toughened after Kim’s unusually aggressive run of nuclear and missile tests in 2016 and 2017. Theymaintain a ban on major export items such as coal, textiles and seafood. Nevertheless, Kim has still repeatedly pushed for an expansion of his nuclear arsenal to cope with what he calls U.S. hostility.

Kim entered talks with President Donald Trump in 2018, but theirdiplomacyhas been deadlocked for about two years because of wrangling over the sanctions.