Kim Jong Un vows to improve ties with outside world at party meeting
The HinduNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un underscored the need to drastically improve his nation's ties with the outside world as he addressed a major political conference for the third consecutive day. State media said Mr. Kim also reviewed relations with rival South Korea but didn’t elaborate on what steps he said he wanted to take. Observers had expected Mr. Kim to use the first congress of the ruling Workers’ Party in five years to send conciliatory gestures toward Seoul and Washington as he faces deepening economic troubles at home. President-elect Joe Biden, who is to take office on January 20, has called Mr. Kim a “thug” and is unlikely to hold any direct meeting with him unless North Korea takes serious steps toward denuclearisation. They also speculate North Korea initially thought South Korea would help it win sanctions relief but got upset after Mr. Kim returned home empty-handed from the 2019 summit with Mr. Trump.