North Korea’s parliament convened on Tuesday, with the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, taking the center seat.
PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korea’s parliament convened on Tuesday, with the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, taking the center seat.
The parliament meeting comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, with the United States and South Korea conducting their biggest-ever military exercises and the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier heading to the area in a show of American strength. North Korea, for its part, has recently test-launched a long-range ballistic missile, and experts say it could be preparing for its sixth nuclear test.
The Supreme People’s Assembly, nominally the highest organ of government, usually meets once or twice a year. It consists of approximately 600 deputies from around the country who usually confirm new domestic policies, changes to the constitution, budget decisions, laws and official appointments.
Initial reports from state media said the meeting went through various domestic issues, with North Korean Premier Pak Pong Ju making a speech about the latest five-year economic plan, which was announced last year. Another closely watched category on the official agenda was organizational issues, which can mean new appointments of officials to senior positions.
According to the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency, Pak told deputies to the assembly that the country has “over-fulfilled” its goals on virtually all fronts of the economy and marked successes in everything from increased coal production to the development of a “new type tractor, truck and various high-performance farm implements.”
Pak said that the Cabinet this year is prioritizing improving the people’s standard of living and noted, among other things, the need to solve the “acute shortage of electricity.
