North Korean leader Kim presides over key party meeting, state media says
The meeting held between Saturday and Monday reviewed the implementation of party and state policies for this year, KCNA reported.
"The plenary meeting discussed...the issues of radically accelerating the revitalization and modernization of major industrial sectors of the national economy," the report said.
A decision on convening the Ninth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea was approved and measures were taken to hold it, KCNA added. The report did not say when it would be held.
Leader Kim also made a speech at the meeting, it said without disclosing the content.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
38 minutes ago
- The Independent
North Koreans ‘worked like slaves' to make up for Russian losses in Ukraine
Thousands of North Koreans are reportedly being sent to Russia to work in brutal conditions to offset a severe labour shortage caused by the war in Ukraine. The shortage stems from Russia's battlefield losses, mass military mobilisation and an exodus of workers abroad since Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to invade their European neighbour. Moscow has already relied on Pyongyang for weapons and ammunition, but is now turning to North Korean manpower for construction, manufacturing and technology work, despite a 2019 United Nations ban on such labour. A number of North Korean workers have spoken to BBC News to describe horrific conditions on Russian work sites, where they say they are forced to do 18-hour shifts while under round-the-clock surveillance and paid only a fraction of what people from other countries earn. North Korea has been a staunch ally of Russia throughout its invasion of Ukraine, to the point of providing North Korea troops to help repel a Ukrainian incursion into Kursk oblast last year. But beyond a limited military role, North Korea has also offered to help prop up Russia's struggling wartime economy. On a visit to Pyongyang in June, Putin's security adviser Sergei Shoigu announced that North Korea would send 5,000 construction workers to help rebuild damaged infrastructure in Kursk. South Korean intelligence officials told the BBC that in reality this figure was half the number already sent by Pyongyang to work on projects across Russia, and that the total number could reach 50,000. This is despite a UN ban on other countries accepting North Korean labourers, put in place because Kim Jong Un's regime uses the funds earned to further its nuclear weapons programme. Labourers who managed to escape worksites in Russia told the broadcaster that they fled fearing their lives, leaving behind 'abysmal' conditions working shifts from 6am to 2am the following night, with just two days off a year. One construction worker said he was taken from the airport in Russia's Far East directly to a building site by a North Korean security agent, who told him: 'The outside world is our enemy.' Another defector said his hands would seize up each morning from exhaustion. 'Waking up was terrifying, realising you had to repeat the same day over again,' he told the broadcaster. And a third labourer recalled workers being beaten if caught resting, saying of the experience as a whole: 'It was truly like we were dying.' Labourers reported living in bug-infested shipping containers or unfinished flats without heating. Injuries often went untreated, and movement outside worksites was tightly controlled. The UN banned countries taking such workers from North Korea in part because the majority of their wages are seized by the North Korean state as 'loyalty fees'. Workers told the BBC that the remainder they were owed – usually $100-$200 (£74-£149) a month – was being withheld by managers until workers returned home, a policy designed to deter an increasing number of escapes in Russia. The defectors, who were able to speak out after fleeing their overseers, said they earned five times less than other foreign workers for much heavier workloads. Such accounts are rare and only likely to become more so – the South Korean government says the number of defections from Russia has halved since 2022 as surveillance measures designed to keep the workers on sites become ever tighter.
The Independent
38 minutes ago
- The Independent
Concerns for Briton Jimmy Lai's deteriorating health as landmark trial set to resume in Hong Kong
A leading press freedom group has urged Hong Kong authorities to release pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai considering his deteriorating health. The 77-year-old British national and founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper is facing the prospect of life in prison if found guilty of sedition and collusion with foreign powers under Hong Kong's national security law. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Lai has been in prison for nearly six years for his role in the pro-democracy protests of 2019 which led to Beijing imposing the national security law in the city. Reporters Without Borders said in a statement that Lai's health had deteriorated after being in solitary confinement since 2021. The watchdog said the media tycoon had been restricted to just 50 minutes of 'exercise' per day, with barely any access to natural light. The millionaire's son, Sebastien Lai, claimed last year that his father, who suffers from diabetes, had lost a significant amount of weight and that he had been denied independent medical care. A Hong Kong court will begin hearing closing arguments in Lai's national security trial on 14 August. The trial began in December 2023 and was originally scheduled to last 80 days, the rights group said. "Since his arrest, Jimmy Lai has been subjected to inhumane conditions, stripped of every shred of dignity and freedom," said Antoine Bernard of Reporters without Borders. "His treatment exposes the authorities' ruthless determination to silence and suppress one of the most prominent advocates for press freedom amid Hong Kong's rapidly deteriorating media landscape. With his trial nearing its conclusion, the international community must urgently act to secure the immediate release of Lai and six other Apple Daily staff members.' Sebastien Lai said his father was being treated inhumanely in prison but he remained 'defiant and strong'. The son had written to Keir Starmer earlier this year seeking a meeting with the prime minister to discuss his father's condition. 'It is ridiculous that in his display of bravery, the prime minister will not meet with me,' he told The Independent. He said Donald Trump 's presidency had given him a lot of hope about his father's release. 'But at the end of the day, it is a joint effort,' he said, urging Sir Keir to do more to help free his father. Mr Trump claimed last year that he would '100 per cent' get Lai out of jail.
Reuters
39 minutes ago
- Reuters
Indian refiners using term deals as hedge against Russian supply risk, govt says
NEW DELHI, Aug 12 (Reuters) - India's state oil refiners will continue to use annual contracts to secure oil supplies and hedge against market volatilities as the future of cheap Russian purchases is in doubt, the oil ministry said in a report to parliament on Tuesday. India has emerged as the leading buyer of Russian seaborne oil, which is sold at a discount after some Western nations shunned purchases and imposed restrictions on Russian exports over Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. However, U.S. President Donald Trump, who announced 25% import tariffs on Indian goods last month, is threatening further levies due to India's Russian oil purchases. And state refiners are currently awaiting clarity from the government on whether to continue importing Russian oil. "Increased imports of Russian crude into India may not last forever," the ministry said in a report responding to a parliamentary panel's questions that did not directly mention the United States or Trump's threatened tariffs. The report said that state refineries were moving forward with all of their term contracts with other suppliers and regions to secure supply requirements. Refiners consider factors including supply security, international politics and trade relations when finalising their procurement plans, it added. "This approach ensures both energy security and the procurement of crude oil at optimal value," the report said. India, the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer, relies on Russian crude for more than a third of its imports. State refiners, which account for over 60% of the country's 5.2 million barrels per day of refining capacity, have paused purchases of Russian oil due to narrowing discounts. Private refiners Reliance Industries Ltd ( opens new tab, Nayara Energy, and HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd are continuing with their purchases. Trump has made bringing an end to the war in Ukraine a priority of his administration. He is due to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, with whom he's had a tumultuous relationship, in Alaska on Friday as part of his efforts to secure a peace deal.
