North Korea: Kim Jong Un criticizes financial “defeat” of senior officials

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has accused senior officials in his country of “defeatism” and blamed them for the country’s dire state of affairs, the official KCNA news agency said on Friday.

At a meeting of senior executives, Kim sharply criticized economic plans in various sectors, saying they had failed to implement the “ideas and policies” announced at a conference in January. According to the ruling party Congress, KCNA.

This is the first time in five years and the eighth in North Korean history that Congress has drawn up a new plan for the economy.

But he also revealed the extent of the economic difficulties of this country, which is very isolated. Kim has repeatedly apologized for mistakes in financial planning and said the last five years have been “the worst”.

At the end of a four-day meeting on Friday, Kim blew up his executives’ lack of “innovative perspective and clear strategies” in the wake of the situation.

He cited agriculture as an example, whose officials said “regardless of the current situation, operating conditions are unfavorable and the state is unable to provide adequate supplies”.

Other sectors have been criticized for their “absurdly low” production quotas, accusing officials of being incompetent and “pretending to do their job”.

North Korea faces multiple international sanctions due to the rapidly advancing nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs under Mr Kim’s administration.

His summit with US President Donald Trump in Hanoi in February 2019 failed.

Nuclear talks have stalled ever since. North Korea demonstrated several new missiles during a military parade in October and last month, and Kim said he wants to increase his nuclear arsenal.

Pyongyang is also under economic pressure as the coronavirus pandemic and floods last summer hit the already devastated economy hard.