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North Korea Opens Rare Ruling Party Congress

Agence France-Presse

   SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un opened on Tuesday
   a rare congress of the ruling Workers' Party, which is expected to set
   out a new economic and political plan, state media reported.

   The congress is the first such meeting in five years, only the eighth
   in North Korea's history, and comes weeks before US President-elect Joe
   Biden takes office.

   Relations with the United States have been deadlocked since talks
   between President Donald Trump and Kim stalled almost two years ago.

   Pyongyang is also under increasing financial pressure, as the
   coronavirus pandemic and summer floods put its flagging economy under
   yet more strain.

   "The 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) opened in
   Pyongyang," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

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