N. Korea stresses Cabinet's role as economic command tower

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, rear, meets with senior party officials during the fourth-day session of the sixth enlarged meeting of the eighth Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang in this Dec. 29, 2022 file photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. Newsis

North Korea on Friday stressed the Cabinet's role as a control tower for economic policy as it pushes to implement economic goals laid out for this year, according to its state media Friday.

At a plenary meeting of the North's ruling Workers' Party in late December, North Korea set out its key policy tasks for the new year, such as increasing economic production and building more homes in Pyongyang.

The Korean Central Broadcasting Station, the state-run radio station, said the Cabinet and economic institutions are stepping up efforts to "thoroughly implement" such goals.

The Cabinet is also engaging in "in-depth discussions" on improving the economic system to achieve the five-year national economic plan as the country's "economic command tower," it added.

During a key party congress in January 2021, leader Kim Jong-un admitted to a failure in his previous five-year economic plan and unveiled a new scheme focusing on self-reliance amid crippling global sanctions and a protracted border closure due to COVID-19. (Yonhap)