A plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party was convened in Pyongyang on Monday to review past projects and discuss next year's work plans, the official Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday.
Kim will likely use the meeting to reaffirm his resolve to expand his nuclear arsenal and introduce high-tech weapons targeting the United States and South Korea while laying out projects to revive pandemic-battered public livelihoods, some experts say.
In his opening comments, Kim compared the hardships and challenges since a bigger party meeting in early 2021 to "the ten-year struggle of the revolution".
But he claimed North Korea has reported some successes "in the arduous course" and that his country's power has "remarkably" increased in political, military, economic and cultural areas.
"He stressed the need to lay out strategies to launch more exciting and confident struggles based on valuable facts that the country has achieved practical advance after enduring all difficulties," the official Korean Central News Agency said.Â
Kim was cited as pointing to a "splendid" achievement made this year and clarified "the strategic and tactical" tasks to achieve North Korean-style socialism.
The news agency didn't elaborate on the achievement Kim was discussing or the tasks he set, and his claims of achievement couldn't be independently confirmed.
Kim may need such propaganda-driven claims to draw greater public loyalty to push difficult projects to bolster his weapons arsenal and address economic woes while facing US-led sanctions and pressure campaigns to curb his nuclear ambitions, some observers say.
The Workers' Party meeting is expected to last several days, and Kim will likely address issues such as his arms buildup, relations with the US and the economy in later sessions.
