SEOUL - The economy of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has shown "a definite upturn" in the first half of 2024 from a year earlier, top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un said during a key ruling party meeting which concluded Monday.

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Kim, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, reviewed the country's economic performance in the first half of this year and laid out the economic tasks for the second half during an enlarged meeting of the 10th plenary meeting of the party's 8th Central Committee held from Friday to Monday.

Kim stressed the importance of developing regional economy and giving priority to "enlisting and increasing scientific and technological abilities" in order to achieve the country's economic goals and complete the ongoing key projects of national importance

The meeting agenda included an interim review of this year's economic work and organizational matters of the party, with all key issues discussed and all decisions unanimously approved, the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Tuesday.

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Kim said the country's major industrial sectors have carried out their plans without "big deviations," and the farming situation across the country is "fairly good" so far this year, while "remarkable successes" have been made in the construction sector with significant new projects going well, the KCNA said.

Kim stressed the importance of developing regional economy and giving priority to "enlisting and increasing scientific and technological abilities" in order to achieve the country's economic goals and complete the ongoing key projects of national importance, according to the report.

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During his speech at the meeting, Kim also reviewed and analyzed the "deviations and shortcomings" revealed in different sectors of the national economy, and called for stepping up the implementation of the economic tasks for the second half of the year to make this year "a year of new changes."