North Korea Holds Enlarged Cabinet Meeting to Review Q3 Economic Performance

SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has held an enlarged Cabinet meeting via video conference to review its third-quarter economic performances, state media reported Tuesday.

The meeting, presided over by Premier Pak Thae-song on Monday, also discussed ways to meet the year's economic targets, according to the Rodong Sinmun, the country's most widely read state newspaper.

Officials reviewed the key goals set at the Ninth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea, held in February, which laid out a new five-year plan through 2030 that stressed economic growth and self-reliance.

According to the report, Vice Premier Kim Tok-hun said, "Remarkable progress has been made, and the foundation for self-reliant economy has been reinforced."

He also called on officials to shed a "passive and risk-averse" work attitude to overcome "defects and bias" found in carrying out economic policy.

The meeting, in particular, called for production drives in electricity, coal, agriculture and construction. It urged work on the fifth phase of the Hwasong district, a newly developed residential district in Pyongyang, and on local industrial factories.