The 7th Central Committee of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party holds a plenary meeting in Pyongyang on August 19, 2020, in this photo provided by Yonhap News.
North Korea will hold a rare ruling party congress in January where leader Kim Jong-un will announce a new five-year plan to develop the country's economy.
According to the North's official Korean Central News Agency, the plans were confirmed Wednesday at a plenary meeting of the Workers' Party's Central Committee, during which Kim acknowledged economic shortcomings caused by "unexpected and inevitable challenges in various aspects and the situation in the region surrounding the Korean Peninsula."
The party last convened for a full congress in 2016, the first such meeting since Kim took office as head of state in late 2011, where he announced his initial five-year national development plan, which included improving power supply and increasing agricultural and manufacturing production.
But experts say global sanctions imposed on the regime and, more recently, the COVID-19 crisis have derailed some of Kim's major economic goals.
Entering the plan's final year, Kim declared in December a "frontal breakthrough" against sanctions while urging his nation to stay resilient in the struggle for economic self-reliance.
It is also possible Kim could use the party congress, which would take place after the U.S. presidential election in November, to announce a new foreign policy approach toward the United States and South Korea.
Nuclear diplomacy between North Korea and the U.S. have stalled since their no-deal summit early last year failed to find common ground over Pyongyang's denuclearization steps and Washington's sanctions relief.
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