(LEAD) N. Korea holds mass rally to drum up support for 2023 policy goals

All News 11:04 January 06, 2023

(ATTN: ADDS unification ministry official's comments in last 3 paras)

SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Yonhap) -- North Korea held a mass rally in Pyongyang earlier this week to call for the thorough implementations of policy goals laid out during a major ruling party meeting late last year, its state media said Friday.

Some 100,000 workers, students and members of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) took part in the event at the May Day Stadium in the capital Thursday, vowing to carry out the decisions made during the WPK's plenary meeting held from Dec. 26-31, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The meeting set out key policy tasks for the new year, such as increasing economic production and building more homes in Pyongyang.

A mass rally takes place at May Day Stadium in Pyongyang on Jan. 5, 2023, in support of decisions made during the sixth enlarged plenary meeting of the eighth Central Committee of the North's ruling Workers' Party, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

The rally also brought together key officials, including Premier Kim Tok-hun and Kim Su-gil, chief secretary of the WPK's city committee in charge of Pyongyang affairs, the KCNA said.

In a speech, Kim Su-gil called for more efforts toward increased electricity generation and the country's goal of building 50,000 homes in the capital by 2025, while urging loyalty to leader Kim Jong-un, it added.

During the party meeting last week, the North's leader Kim called for efforts to "exponentially" increase the country's nuclear arsenal and mass-produce tactical nuclear weapons.

South Korea's unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs said the North is expected to stage social campaigns to press for the implementation of the WPK's policy decisions for about one month.

"The government will closely watch follow-up developments to the WPK's meeting, including a key parliamentary gathering set for Jan. 17," Lee Hyo-jung, deputy spokesperson of the ministry, said at a regular press briefing.

She also said the North is expected to face challenges in posting economic growth and improving people's livelihoods this year, the third year of the North's five-year economic development plan laid out at its key party congress in 2021.