NK workers stage pep rallies for new 5-year economic development plan

North Korea has staged worker pep rallies en masse across the country to boost morale in achieving a new five-year state economic development put forward by leader Kim Jong-un last month, the country's state media said Sunday.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that workers' rallies aimed at encouraging the fulfillment of the year-one goals of the five-year economic plan were held in multiple industrial fields and units.

The rallies were held as answers to an earlier one staged at the Hwanghae Iron and Steel Complex, where workers affirmed their commitment to meet production targets and achieve the first-year goals of the plan, according to the KCNA.

North Korea unveiled the new five-year economic development plan at the eighth congress of the Workers' Party last month, with a focus on self-reliance.

The latest in the recent economy-related rallies and gatherings came after Kim criticized officials at a recent party meeting for showing "passive and self-protecting tendencies" in setting this year's goals and urged increased production of iron, steel and chemical fertilizer.

During the latest rallies, workers pledged to overcome the negative propensities recently pointed out by Kim, according to the KCNA.

The report said the workers of Pyongyang's Cabinet secretariat expressed their will to fundamentally innovate their old ideological perspectives and work attitude, while mine workers in Jaeryong and Unryul underscored their determination to achieve the independent foundation of the country's metalwork industry. (Yonhap)