Kim opens session, decries missing goals

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un opened its first Workers’ Party Congress in five years in Pyongyang on Tuesday with thousands of delegates and observers in attendance, state media reported Wednesday.

In his opening speech, Korean Central News Agency cited Kim as saying the previous state developmental goals set in a 2016 congress “were not met in almost all areas to a great extent.” Kim said North Korea “must not repeat the painful lessons,” according to KCNA.

North Korea has said it will lay out a new five-year development plan at the ongoing congress.