Pyongyang: North Korea has held a key party meeting to review the implementation of state policies in the first half of the year, state media reported Tuesday, without disclosing details of a speech by its leader Kim Jong-un in a rare move. The North convened the 12th plenary session of the eighth Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) from Saturday to Monday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
According to Yonhap News Agency, the meeting was held to review policy performances in the first half and discuss policy directions for the second half, the KCNA said. The North's leader Kim, who presided over the latest party meeting, delivered a speech, but state media did not disclose details. It remains uncertain whether Kim issued any message targeting the United States or South Korea during his speech.
South Korea's unification ministry said it was rare for North Korea to forgo disclosing Kim's speech and exclude diplomacy from areas of discussions at the meeting. The North's party meeting had garnered attention over whether Kim would issue messages toward Washington and Seoul as U.S. President Donald Trump and President Lee Jae Myung have shown a conciliatory gesture toward North Korea.
"North Korea is presumed to have not disclosed (details of the meeting), given that South Korea and the U.S. have not finalized their North Korea policy and the international security situation remains fluid amid Russia's war with Ukraine and the Israel-Iran conflict," a ministry official said. At the party meeting, North Korea also did not deal with how to handle party officials responsible for the warship accident that occurred in May.
Kim earlier blamed the accident on "absolute carelessness" and "irresponsibility" and ordered the ship's restoration before the WPK meeting. A new 5,000-ton destroyer tipped over and became partially submerged during a launch ceremony in late May in the northeastern port of Chongjin. The North launched it at the Rajin shipyard after weeks of repair.
Meanwhile, North Korea said it unanimously approved a plan to convene the ninth party congress at the latest party meeting, calling the event an important "watershed" for the development of the WPK. North Korea's last party congress, a key party event held every five year, was held in January 2021, where the regime unveiled a list of sophisticated weapons Kim had vowed to develop, such as military spy satellites and solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The unification ministry said the North may convene the party congress at the end of this year or early next year. The plenary meeting also discussed issues of "radically accelerating the revitalization and modernization of major industrial sectors of the national economy," the KCNA said, without elaborating.