News Desk
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un has admitted his five-year economic plan for the isolated country failed to meet its targets in “almost every sector.” He was speaking at the opening of a rare congress of his ruling Workers’ Party – only the eighth in its history. North Korea closed its borders last January to prevent the spread of Covid-19, despite claiming to have no cases of the virus. It is not unusual for Mr Kim to admit mistakes – in fact, it is quickly becoming one of his trademarks, the BBC’s Laura Bicker in Seoul reports. In his speech, Mr Kim said the five-year strategy he announced in 2016 had “immensely underachieved in almost all sectors” and mistakes had to be “boldly admitted”. He called for greater self-reliance and praised party workers for combating the threat of the coronavirus. North Korea has reported thousands of suspected infections to the World Health Organization (WHO), although it has not admitted to having any confirmed cases.
