Kim presents plans to stabilize battered N. Korean economy

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presented economic plans to senior ruling party officials before an upcoming meeting to review the nation’s efforts to overcome severe hardships amid a prolonged COVID-19 crisis

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presented economic plans to senior ruling party officials before an upcoming meeting to review the nation's efforts to overcome severe hardships amid a prolonged COVID-19 crisis, state media said Tuesday. The Korean Central News Agency said Kim held his consultations Monday in preparation for a meeting of the Workers’ Party’s powerful Central Committee to discuss state affairs for the first half of 2021. The meeting was set for early June and could take place as early as this week. Kim's plans were not specified but were described as intending to bring “tangible change" to stabilizing the economy and people's living conditions. The North Korean economy has been crippled by decades of mismanagement, U.S.-led sanctions over Kim’s nuclear weapons program and the coronavirus pandemic. South Korean officials say there are no signs North Korea is easing the border controls it imposed at the start of the pandemic to import more industrial and agricultural materials to boost production.