North Korea: Kim continues speech on day two of Congress

North Korea's ruling Workers' Party continued its landmark Congress for a second day Wednesday, state media reported early Thursday.

Kim again talked about "improving the people's living standard," the Korean Central News Agency said, and "placing the state defense capabilities on a much higher level."

The meeting is the first full congress of North Korea's ruling party in five years, expecting to last for a few days.

During the opening day, leader Kim Jong Un admitted a failure in his previous economic development plans.

The congress is being held during a challenging period  of Jong Un's nine-year rule, what he had called "multiple crises."

North Korea is one of the poorest countries in Asia, and the already besieged economy is being hammered by pandemic related border closings with China, the fallout from a series of natural disasters last summer and persistent US-led sanctions over the nuclear program.