North Korea's ruling party begins key annual meeting

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during a plenary meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea at the party headquarters in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Dec 26, 2022. - AP

SEOUL (AFP): North Korea's ruling party has kicked off a major annual meeting with economic policy on the agenda, state media reported on Tuesday (Dec 27).

Instead of a New Year's Day speech, leader Kim Jong-un in recent years has used the year-end plenary meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea as a platform to outline policies in key areas such as diplomacy, security and the economy.