North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un presented a comprehensive economic plan to senior ruling party officials, state media said Wednesday.
Officials will review the nation's coronavirus pandemic efforts.
Kim is said to have consulted with senior advisers ahead of his meeting with the Workers' Party's Central Committee this month. Kim will discuss state affairs and projects for 2021. The Korean Central News Agency said the meeting might take place this week.
The news agency didn't elaborate on plans laid out by the Supreme Leader of North Korea. The state-owned agency described it only as a plan that would bring "tangible change" to the nation's economy - while also improving people's living conditions.
Owing to its unwillingness to form diplomatic bonds with some large economies and decades of mismanagement, North Korea's economy has been on a steady decline, observers say. The world health pandemic and U.S.-imposed sanctions have worsened its economic situation, they say.
South Korea sources said North Korea was still in lockdown and most of its border controls, which were implemented at the start of the health crisis, were still in effect.
During the Workers' Party's congress earlier in the year - the first since 2016 - Kim encouraged people to be resilient. Kim wants to boost agricultural production and prioritize development of the nation's metal and chemical industries.
Kim has been upfront in addressing the nation's economic woes. He previously said the nation was facing its "worst ever" crisis as a result of the pandemic, western sanctions and heavy flooding last summer. He warned people of an upcoming "arduous march" - a term used to describe the devastating 1990s famine that killed hundreds of thousands of North Koreans.
Groups and organizations monitoring North Korea say conditions might align for a "perfect storm" that might trigger panic. Geneva-based Assessment Capacities Project said North Korea was now at high risk for a humanitarian crisis.
