North Korean leader calls for meeting to review battered economy

Kim Jong Un attends a meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea (Korean Central News Agency/AP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has presided over a meeting of the ruling party in his first public appearance in about a month, calling for a larger political conference to discuss salvaging the country’s decaying economy.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Mr Kim expressed appreciation that a lot of works were being speeded up thanks to the “ideological enthusiasm and fighting spirit of self-reliance” demonstrated by the party and his people.