North Korea's Kim stresses self-sufficient economy as tensions with South Korea rise

NORTH KOREA - SEOUL. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un focused on domestic economic issues at a meeting of the politburo of the country’s ruling Workers Party, state media said on Monday, as the North ramped up pressure on South Korea over defector activities.

The two-day politburo meeting comes at a time of economic uncertainty amid the global COVID-19 pandemic that is putting additional pressure on the North’s economy, already battered by international sanctions aimed at stopping its nuclear program.

The meeting discussed “crucial issues arising in further developing the self-sufficient economy of the country and improving the standard of people’s living,” state news agency KCNA said.

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Kim did not mention the North’s increased criticism of South Korea or of the North Korean defectors who call it home.

For several days, North Korea has lashed out at South Korea, threatening to close an inter-Korean liaison office and other projects if the South does not stop defectors from sending leaflets and other material into the North.

On Monday morning, North Korea did not answer a routine daily liaison phone call from South Korean officials for the first time in since 2018, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said.

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