>"Kim Jong-un’s blunt assessment led his country to plan a rare Workers’ Party congress for January to chart a new course after the country was hammered by sanctions, floods and the pandemic."

North Korea on Thursday announced plans to hold a rare Workers’ Party congress in January to work on a new plan to shore up its economy. Mr. Kim’s blunt admission of policy shortcomings during a formal party meeting was an indication of how much the North Korean economy had been hammered by the triple crises. Plans to improve the national economy have been “seriously delayed” by “severe internal and external situations and unexpected manifold challenges,” the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party concluded during the meeting in Pyongyang, the capital, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported on Thursday.

North Korea on Thursday announced plans to hold a rare Workers’ Party congress in January to work on a new plan to shore up its economy. Mr. Kim’s blunt admission of policy shortcomings during a formal party meeting was an indication of how much the North Korean economy had been hammered by the triple crises. Plans to improve the national economy have been “seriously delayed” by “severe internal and external situations and unexpected manifold challenges,” the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party concluded during the meeting in Pyongyang, the capital, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported on Thursday.