The 2nd Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) for discussing the crucial issues of key importance in implementing the decisions of the 8th Congress of the WPK continued on February 9.

The second-day sitting of the plenary meeting was held amid a high sense of Party responsibility and unusual awareness of all the participants to surely bring about a remarkable improvement in this year’s economic work and people’s standard of living, bearing in mind once again the urgent requirements of the Party and the revolution.

Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, continued his report on the first agenda item.

The report set forth this year’s tasks for different sectors including economy and culture, and importantly referred to the issue of enhancing the role of the state organs for economic guidance to carry them out.

It put forward the tasks for the fishing sector to put the fishing and aquatic farming on a regular basis so as to provide people with more marine products.

Referring to the works to be implemented this year in the fields of communications, land and environment and city management to provide convenient and civilized living condition to people, it stressed the need for the external economic sector to carry out innovative and reasonable plans from the stand of protecting the country’s economy and consolidating its independence.

Attentively listening to the General Secretary’s enthusiastic report indicating the audacious plans and lucid ways for courageously overcoming manifold hardships and bringing about a revolutionary turn in the economic construction and improvement of the people’s living, the participants in the meeting were convinced of successes in the work for this year and engaged themselves in listening to his report with main focus put on the plans of their sectors.

Saying that propping up agriculture is an important state affair that must be successful at any cost to solve the food problem for the people and successfully push ahead with the socialist construction, the General Secretary analyzed the achievements and experience gained in the agricultural field for the recent several years and set forth tasks of stably and steadily developing the agricultural production based on them.

Emphasized in the report were the issues of taking prompt state measures for supplying farming materials on which success or failure of farming for this year hinges for the present, pushing ahead with the work of providing a material and technical foundation for the agricultural production in a planned way and bringing about a decisive improvement in the Party work in the rural areas.

Reconfirming the importance of raising the role of science and technology as a traction engine, the report called for directing special efforts to solving scientific and technological problems demanding an urgent solution in consolidating the existent economic foundation and improving the standard of people’s living, actively developing core and strategic latest technologies and building up the scientific research force, scientific and technical talents.

It clarified detailed instructions calling for bringing about evident improvement and innovation in the field of cultural construction including education, public health, literature and art, media and sports, further displaying the advantages of our own-style socialism and making sure that the revolutionary and optimistic fighting spirit prevails in the whole society.

The General Secretary in the report evinced the militant tasks to be carried out by the People’s Army and the munitions industry this year for implementing the decisions set forth by the 8th Party Congress, and the direction of future action to be taken by the sector in charge of affairs with south Korea and the sector in charge of external affairs, before underscoring the need to thoroughly carry them out without fail.

The report noted that the success or failure in this year’s economic work depends on the capability and role of the state economic guidance organs in the main, and made clear the issue that the Cabinet and state economic guidance organs should restore the function peculiar to them as economic organizer and their controlling function to improve the guidance and management over the whole economy, the one of improving the role of non-permanent economic development committee and other important practical issues for consolidating the Cabinet-centered system, Cabinet-responsibility system.

The report stressed the need for the Cabinet and state economic guidance organs to make everything dovetailed from their planning, pay attention to organic contact and cooperation among economic sectors, thoroughly establish the plan discipline, sharply sum up the results of production and correct the rule-of-thumb way of work in planning and guiding the economic work.

The report also advanced the direction oriented towards the adoption of essential and vital practical measures by furthering the study of methods of economic management and their translation into practice.

Noting that the Party will support the bold renovation in the economic work to the end, the General Secretary stressed over again the need for economic guidance officials to decisively enhance their responsibility and role in planning and guiding this year’s economic work.

The report, which comprehensively analyzed and appreciated the planning and attitude taken by different sectors for implementing the decisions of the Party Congress and clearly set forth rectification measures, drew a great support and enthusiastic approval from the participants in the plenary meeting, as it reflects firm determination and bold practical measures to bring about without fail substantial results desired and welcomed by the people this year.

The report will continue at the third-day sitting of the plenary meeting.