North Korea’s Kim opens rare party congress with pledge to fix economy

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed to lift living standards as he opened a landmark congress, state media said on Friday, offering a glimpse of economic strains within the sanctions-hit nation.The supreme leader took centre stage with a speech to start the Workers’ Party congress, a gathering that directs state efforts on everything from house building to war planning.Held just once every five years, the days-long congress offers a rare glimpse into the workings of a nation where even mundane details are shrouded in secrecy.“Today, our party is faced with heavy and urgent historic tasks of boosting economic construction and the people’s standard of living and transforming all realms of state and social life as early as possible,” Kim said in his opening speech.“This requires us to wage a more active and persistent struggle without allowing even a moment’s standstill or stagnation.”Delegates attend the Ninth Worker’s Party Congress in Pyongyang on Friday. Photo: KCNA ‘ ReutersFor decades, nuclear weapons and military prowess came before everything else in North Korea, even as food stocks dried up and famine took hold.